Iron Body, Glass Heart
by bubbajack
Summary: A story in which the words "The more things change, the more things stay the same." never rang more true. For after death, and even in rebirth, he still wants to be a Hero. One that helps others at the cost of himself, knowing full well his ideal is hypocritical. Do you have enough blades...Jaune Arc? JaunexHarem! Could go up to M in later chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Iron Body Glass Heart**

 **By: Bubbajack**

 **Beta: Grammarly, self-proofread**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, FSN, or anything else that shows up in this fic.**

 **Ch.1: Beginning of a new heroes Arc.**

* * *

 ** _My body is made out of blades._**

He lived his life with no regrets. He told the Wrought Iron Hero he would walk down this path, and regret nothing. That he would follow his ideal to the end, no matter how hypocritical he found it, he would see these borrowed dreams through to the end. He tempered his body through training and conflict, for years before setting out with his companion by his side…

 ** _My blood is of iron and my heart of glass._**

His body bled for his ideal, while his heart and soul fractured like glass for each person he failed to save, for every smile he was unable to protect…and each one he was forced to take away…

 ** _I survived through countless battles._**

He entered hundreds if not thousands of battlefields. Some were small skirmishes others massive wars that would determine the fates of nations. His Dream, his Ideal, lead him through countless battlefields

 ** _Not even once retreating._**

Even when all was apparently lost, he refused to give up. More often than naught he would have to be dragged from the battlefield by his companion.

 ** _Not even once being victorious._**

No matter how many battles he won nothing ever seemed to change. When one evil was vanquished another rose from the void, it left to fill its place. It was like trying to kill the ocean, one drop at a time. But he persevered.

 ** _Now I lie here alone._**

In the end, all die alone. The greatest heroes of legend, Cu Chulainn, Hercules, even the great King Arthur, all died alone as legends. No one stands forever…not even a modern hero like himself… Cu Chulainn fell to the machinations of Medb and the spurned goddess Morrigan. Hercules to the wicked wiles of women and Hera. Both women scorned. While King Arthur fell to her own sister and bastard child. But hero fell not to the machinations of gods or spurned lovers, but to the Great White Dog. The servant of the Ninth of the Twenty-six Dead Apostle Ancestors. Primate Murder.

 ** _Forging iron on a hill of swords._**

At his core, he was a mage, not a swordsman, nor an archer, but a mage with but a naught but two spells to his name…

 ** _Thus, my life needs no meaning._**

The first defined him as a person, and the second, the second established him as a legend. For his second spell placed him on a pedestal that only five others could claim. In the end, the Hero known as Emiya Shirou, the Wrought Iron Hero, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven died, content, wanting only one thing…to make others happy. He died with no regrets, knowing full well he was leaving the world a much better place than he found it. And thus, he went on to the next great adventure…

* * *

 **Analyzing soul… ERROR! ALIEN COMMON SENSE OF DEMONS DETECTED, ONI-BLOOD NOT PRESENT! DEAD APOSTLE ANCESTOR? NEGATIVE.**

 **Cataloging History…ERROR! ERROR! PRIOR HISTORY NOT FOUND! PROLONGED CONTACT WITH FAE-LEVEL ARTIFACT DETECTED! ORIGIN AND ELEMENT…ALTERED.**

 **ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! SOUL HAS ALREADY BEGUN PARTIAL-TRANSMIGRATION! SAMSARA…INCOMPLETE.**

 **Cause?**

 **SCANNING…RESULT FOUND. Contact with fae-artifact interrupted transmigration process.**

 **Solution to quandary?**

 **ASCENSION TO THRONE OF HEROES? Negative. Soul already exists on the Throne. See Heroic Spirit, EMIYA.**

 **TOTAL PURGE OF SOUL AND IDENTITY FROM DATABASES? Negative. Unique existence, Sword Incarnation. The loss is unacceptable.**

 **PERSONALITY REWRITE, MEMORY BURIAL, AND COMMENCE FULL SAMSARA? Solution…Accepted. Begin.**

 **WARNING! SIXTH PATHOGEN RECOGNIZED! POTENTIAL THREAT TO GAIA VERIFIED! PROCEED WITH PURGE BY COUNTER FORCE? …Negative. Continue with the original plan.**

Reincarnation was a funny thing. When one dies, their memories were to be wiped, and a new personality was put in its place. While their former nature, life, and deeds were recorded by the Akasha Records for all eternity. Unless of course, one becomes famous enough to become a Heroic Spirit, then they are removed from the cycle of reincarnation entirely. However, much like how magecraft manipulated of the laws of the World much like programmers would manage a computer program, Akasha was much like a computer in regards to how it operated.

It filed away the deeds of a person, then much like wiping a disk, it erased the memories and personality before uploading a new one and sending the next soul out to live its life. This was what normally happened anyway. But several factors would cause the c **u** ore of the being known as Emiya Shirou to be seen as a 'bug' within a flawless system.

This could be attributed to several factors.

The fact that he though in no way shape or form, possessed the blood of Oni-kind, nor was he an Dead Apostle Ancestor, yet he, a mere human had the _'alien common sense of demons'_ and with it, the ability to manifest a Reality Marble. It could have been the fact that for a majority of his life, he unknowingly had in his possession Avalon, the mystical sheath to Excalibur that could defend against even the power of True Magic itself. Perhaps it was due to the fact he claimed the Sixth Heaven for his own.

Whatever the reason, Akasha saw him as something akin to a bug, a glitch in the system. And thus, his soul shunted along quickly into the cycle of reincarnation. The usual process of purging the soul was ignored, yet a new persona was added on top of that which was already in place…creating a rather unique situation for the soon-to-be newborn in question.

* * *

"I swear to Oum after this, you're getting a vasectomy Xanthus Arc!" The woman in labor cried as she squeezed his hand in a vise-like grip.

"Yes Leona whatever you say, now just push!" Xanthus told his wife.

Squeezing his hand even harder, she cried out, "I am pushing! It's all your fault I'm like this for the eighth time!" Leona cried out through her contractions.

"I can see the head! Just give us one more big push Misses Arc!" the doctor told her calmly.

Doing as the medical professional commanded, pushing hard. Moments later a healthy cry of a newborn was heard, and Leona was panting from exertion while smiling happily.

"It's a boy!" The doctor, Dr. Avery Evergreen said, before adding, "No discernable Faunus trait. But congratulations on having a son you two. No doubt all of his older sisters will spoil him something rotten. Just let us get some info down on him and clean the lad up a bit, and then you can have him."

"Of course Dr. Evergreen thank you." Xanthus, a giant of a man with blonde hair and green eyes, said kindly.

A few moments later after his weight, hair and eye color, and aura levels were taken the baby was returned, the doctor sporting a surprised look on his face as he handed the child to his parents, who proceeded to nuzzle and cuddle with him. After a few minutes, Leona a lion Faunus with a mane of multicolored hair as her trait noticed Dr. Evergreen was still there, supposedly wishing to speak with them.

"Is something wrong Doctor?" she asked.

Shaking his head, the medical professional replied, "No, not wrong per say. It's just the lad there-"

The Doc was cut off by Xanthus saying, "Jaune, Jaune Julius Arc."

"An excellent name." Evergreen said with a nod before continuing, "Jaune there has an utterly massive level of aura."

Both parents blinked in surprise. _'Massive level of Aura?'_ they both thought.

"How massive are we talking?" Leona inquired.

"Well on average a fully grown adult without Hunter training has an Aura count of forty. A person who's gone through such training could have aura levels in the high hundreds, while veteran huntsmen like Ozpin are known to have aura levels that exceed one thousand, though it's rare...however an unconfirmed theory going around in the medical field is stating each generation is building off of the last, and that Faunus have more Aura than humans on average, though nothing is confirmed. So perhaps little Jaune here is strong because he is from an old lineage of Hunters. Who knows?"

Both husband and wife nodded, having been hunters themselves before settling down, Leona herself having served on the same team with the Headmaster of Beacon, Glynda Goodwitch, and her husband back when they were in the Academy together, and during the Great War. Knowing this Xanthus pressed, "But Jaune?"

"Jaune has an aura level of 1390. Nearly thirty-five times that of an average fully grown adult, and almost twice that of average Hunter, that being around seven hundred twenty."

Both parents looked gobsmacked. Then they looked down at the infant in their arms who was sleeping soundly against his mother's bosom. The Doc chuckled, "Yes, I suppose my face looked much the same when I first looked at the result. At first, I thought I did something wrong, so I did the test again. Same result. Then I checked the machine to make sure it was working right. Again, same result. So by my estimate, should Jaune receive proper Hunter training, he could roughly almost double that number as Hunters are trained to use their aura, and it grows as they do through their formative years, increasing by forty every year till the age of eighteen. Hence the seven hundred twenty count average should one not come from a Hunter background."

He paused then allowing the parents to absorb this before he continued, "Should his aura grow at an average rate, Jaune would have an aura level of two thousand one hundred ten, close to twice that of Ozpin, who holds the record for the highest Aura ever recorded at fourteen hundred I believe. Quite amazing, really."

After a moment, Xanthus managed to find his voice, "I-I see, thank you, doctor. If you could, please let our daughters know they could come in now, that would be great."

"Oh, of course, Congratulations again you two. I expect great things from young Jaune in the future."

The moment the man opened the door, eight people stampeded in, with a ninth coming in slower than the rest, a stylized pistol-grip cane in one hand, a mug of hot coffee in the other.

"Doctor Evergreen," Ozpin greeted with a polite nod before he sipped his cup, "Was there a problem with the birth?"

Laughing heartily, Evergreen replied, "Oh no, nothing like that Headmaster. It just seems we've found the **_'you'_** of the next generation if young Jaune's aura count is anything to go by."

Raising a pencil-thin gray eyebrow, Ozpin mused, "Oh?"

"Oh yes, I'd tell you more, but doctor-patient confidentiality and all that." Ozpin nodded in understanding, and goodbye before approaching the bed that had all of the Arc Clan, plus Glynda surrounding the new addition.

"Congratulations you two, you finally have a son," Ozpin said before taking a sip of his precious coffee.

"Isn't he just precious Ozpin?" Leona cooed at her youngest, who was currently being held by Noir, her third eldest.

Smiling slightly the Beacon Headmaster replied, "He certainly is. I heard from the Doctor little Jaune here has quite an impressive Aura count. Though he didn't give me anything specific, he said they had potentially found the 'me' of this generation. So, I find myself intrigued. Just how much aura does my nephew possess?"

Leona sighed, "You never were one to let mysteries linger were you Oz? Well, if you must know, our little Jaune here has an aura level of almost fourteen hundred."

Glynda blinked in surprise, "That's higher than Ozpin's own aura level. Are you sure the doctor didn't make a mistake, or maybe a machine malfunctioned?"

"He did the test three times just to be sure." Xanthus crowed with pride.

Another sip of coffee before, "Astounding, I'm sure he'll make an excellent Huntsman when he comes of age."

"Hold it right there Ozpin!" Leona all but snarled, "Not even a day old, and you're already trying to decide your nephews' future? I don't think so. My son will not be a part of your Grand Games Ozpin!"

Ozpin wisely backed away, Leona was a lion Faunus, and as such, she was very protective of her children. It was just in her nature. And though he was strong, Leona was no slouch. Back on team GLOX (Clocks), she was the powerhouse of the team, while he had sheer speed due to his time alteration semblance. He may be able to avoid her blows, but only for so long. So, he backpedaled, "I meant no such thing, Leona. I would merely be surprised if the boy chose not to become a Huntsman. With both of your backgrounds, combined with his truly impressive aura…Well, it does seem a bit wasteful for him to not follow the same path as his parents, don't you think?"

"Ozpin," Xanthus said, his usually jovial voice growing slightly firm, "While we would like nothing better than any of our children to follow in our footsteps, ours was and is, a dangerous line of work. Should any of our children, not just Jaune choose the path of the Hunter, Leona and I shall fully support them. But only if they choose it, of their own volition…do you understand me?"

"Perfectly." The Beacon Headmaster replied between sips of coffee.

Xanthus nodded, "Good, now would you like to hold your nephew?"

Leaning his cane against the wall, he took up the baby with one arm smiling as he slept soundly despite being passed around by almost a dozen people. Ozpin didn't know whether or not this boy would choose to become a Huntsman in the future, but for some reason, at that moment, he felt like he could bet his semblance that he'd be seeing him daily in about seventeen years.

* * *

Seven going on eight years passed and Jaune Arc lived a normal life, he played laughed had fun, hobbies. He tended to act more mature, caring, and helpful than his age would suggest, but, being one of two men in a house full of eight women, one could chalk it up to him having to mature emotionally rather quickly or face hormonal rage.

Then, a month before his eighth birthday, something odd began to occur. Jaune began having a recurring dream. Swords, spears, daggers, armor, and shields of all make and model. They were impaled in the earth point first like grave markers for fallen soldiers. He stood atop a hill overlooking this destitute battlefield the sun stuck in a perpetual twilight, turning the blue sky caramel. In the distance, flames ringed the horizon.

The blonde-haired blue-eyed boy stared out at the scene with impassive boredom written on his face, _'Not this dream again!'_

But it was, it was the exact same dream that had been reoccurring for all of three weeks now. At first, he thought it was cool, dreaming of a forgotten battlefield like this, but nothing ever happened here. He just sat and stared at a hill and plane covered in blades until he woke up. Well, not this time! This time, Jaune Arc got to his feet and began walking amongst the veritable armory of weapons. As he walked amongst the blades, one set in particular caught his eye. They were a pair of falchions, one black with a tortoise shell pattern, the other a cloudy white. Each had a stripe of color from the other running down their centers within that, a black and white circle with two dots of the other color in the center. The grips were wrapped in black leather, and the overly large pommels were of red metal.

Next to the crisscrossed blades was a great black bow made of some unknown material. Walking over to the blades, he picked them up. The moment he did, two names entered him mind's eye. _Kanshou_ and _Bakuya, the Married Twin Swords_. These foreign names made him drop the blades in shock, where the clattered into the dusty earth.

 _'_ _What was that?'_ Jaune asked himself. Deciding to try something, he reached out towards the black bow…the moment he laid his hands on it, he heard an unfamiliar voice say two words.

"Trace on."

"Trace on? What does that even-Gah!" Jaune cried out as burning hot pain flared throughout his body and in his mind's eye, he saw the barrel of a revolver rotating before firing.

* * *

"AHH!" Jaune awoke with a startled gasp, lashing out with his arms and sending his sheets flying off of his bed. Feeling like his stomach was in his throat, he just managed to make it to the bathroom before he retched loudly into the toilet.

The young blonde was so busy emptying bile in the bathroom, he didn't hear the knocking at his door, nor when said door was forced open, but he heard his youngest sister, the eleven-year-old Indigo a dependable though a bit overly emotional girl call out, "Jauney, is everything ok?"

"No, I think I've got a fever," Jaune called back.

"Oh no, not on your big day!" Indigo cried out.

Taking several deep breaths through his nose, Jaune said, "I'm just turning a year older Indy. It's not that big a deal. Not like I'm attending Signal or something. Now can you go get mom or something? _Please?_ " The last word came out as that of the sickly child Jaune was, rather than the mature adult he often acted as.

Thus, Indigo Arc knew her little brother indeed was feeling his worst. For she knew it took a lot for her little bother to actually act his age. Not that his maturity was an act, no. Often times her brother though the youngest of all of them, was easily the most responsible. He felt he had to be the 'man of the house' whenever dad was gone on missions, and he was always ready and willing to cook if mom wasn't in the mood.

Indigo was just about to hurry out of the room when a calm, quiet voice asked, "What's wrong with Jaune?"

Turning on her heel and placing a hand over her hammering heart and brushing her dark-blue locks out of her eyes Indigo chastised, "Noir, you almost scared the life out of me!"

"Only almost?" She said with a ghost of a smirk, "Then I shall have to try harder next time."

Noir was 5'11, with long flowing black hair and eyes that flashed burnished gold. She wore a black silken camisole that clung to her like spider silk, and she could like all in the family, move on catspaws when she desired, which for her, was often.

"Indigo, is that Noir?" Jaune called from the bathroom.

"Yes Jaune, I'm here. What's wrong?" A hint of concern in her inquisitive tone.

Again Jaune called from the bathroom, "I'm not feeling well sis, could you stay with me while Indy goes to get mom?"

A curt nod, "Of course," She then turned to her youngest sister, "You heard him, get going."

With that, she entered the bathroom scrunching her nose up only slightly at the smell emanating from the toilet before giving it a glance and saying, "Well you didn't throw up dinner. What's the matter Jaune?"

"Is Indy gone?" He asked in response.

"Yes, why?" Noir asked curiosity piqued.

"And you just got that job with those Schnee jerks right?"

"Jaune they're not that bad, they did hire me and gave me funding and a salary for my research." The third eldest Arc sister chastised.

"They hired you because of your last name, and as a scapegoat for all of their racist practices." Jaune shot back, feeling too awful to beat around the bush.

Noir didn't even bother to refute him. Instead, she retorted calmly, "I'm well aware. But if I can give people hope-"

"False hope."

"And use what I discover to advance Faunus in the eyes of the general public-" Noir continued as if her little brother hadn't spoken, only to be cut off again.

"Oh, so you're using the Schnee for their money. Wow, I didn't realize you were so devious Noir."

 _'_ _He always gets so pessimistic and sarcastic when he's stressed out or ill.'_ Noir thought before she sighed and decided to change the subject.

"What happened Jaune?"

The blonde was silent for a time before he finally spoke, "You believe in things that can't be explained right?"

"I believe that certain theories have yet to be proven correct. Such as the exact nature of the Creatures of Grimm, and the very nature of Aura and its relation to Dust itself. I am a scientist Jaune, not a preacher. As such it is my job to test things and see if they prove true or not, not just blindly believe them to be so."

The eight-year-old nodded, "Good because something weird has been happening to me lately, and I may need your help sis."

Raising an eyebrow, Noir said, "Explain."

He told her of his recurring dream, of the endless plane of swords and other bladed weapons, and how just recently, he'd went out and touched them.

"Kanshou and Bakuya… names you heard in your head when you touched them?" A nod from the youngest Arc. "Hmm, strange. Then what happened?"

"I picked up the black bow and heard something else. Something like a phrase or passcode." Jaune replied as he thought back on it.

"What was it?"

It was really weird, just two words but…it made me burn up when I said them aloud in the dream. The words were… _Trace on_."

Once again, Jaune felt heat and pain flow through him once again. But it didn't feel nearly as bad as last time. Now it was more akin to stretching disused muscle than the vomit inducing fever he'd had previously.

"Jaune your aura spiked ever so slightly when you said those words. How curious. Is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all?"

Rubbing his temples in thought, the blonde did recall one missing detail. "Right before I woke up, I saw a gun like a revolver being chambered back and firing."

"Some sort of last moment apparition? An image induced by your fever, or perhaps…" Jaune knew his sister was deep in thought when she spoke aloud like this so he stayed quiet and waited for her to finish.

"It could be part of some kind of psychological trigger along with the words I mean."

"A psychological trigger? You mean like hypnosis?"

"Indeed, in fact, according to a recent paper I read published by a Gepetto Poledina, it's believed that the soul can be touched even manipulated through used of such techniques." Another pause before, "He even theorized one could activate their aura's and even find their semblances should they enter a trance-like state."

Slowly Jaune nodded, "Let's say you're right, and something did happen to trigger my aura. How do we find out?"

Before Noir could answer, the door to his room burst open and their mother yelled, "Jaune, sweetie are you alright?!"

Yet what frightened the blue-eyed blonde more than his mother's impending coddling was the look in his sister's eyes. For there he saw hunger. Hunger mixed with curiosity. Jaune gulped as he suddenly felt like a guinea pig who was about to be subjected to all manner of horrendous tests and experiments.

"Once mother is finished fretting over you, we'll simply have to…run some tests."

Jaune shivered involuntarily, and it had nothing to do with his fever. _'This is turning out to be the worst birthday ever.'_ Jaune had thought to himself before the torture known as 'motherly coddling' began.

Little did he know that by day's end, a series of strange events would snowball together, leading to this particular birthday becoming one he would remember fondly for the rest of his life.

* * *

 **Word Count: 4,000 Page Count: 9 Date Completed: 9/15/16**

* * *

 **AN: Hello everyone and welcome to Iron Body, Glass Heart. This is a fic I've had on my mind for a bit, as I found Jaune and Shirou from FSN to be quite similar in terms of character. As both want to be heroes and want to be helpful to others, but there are also noticeable differences between their characters as well. Mainly Jaune actually TRYING (and failing) to get a girl while most just sorta fall into Shirou's lap because he was dense as all hell (So is Jaune come to think of it).**

 **But anyway, I wanted to try something different from my usual style of writing in which I** **ATTEMPT** **to update a fic everyday/every other day rather than every couple of weeks or months like I usually do. Hence, the shorter chapters, but hopefully more frequent chapter updates. That said, tell me how I did. Good? Bad? Meh? Please let me know in a review/PM. Thanks for reading and till next time, Peace out all!**

 **~ Bubbajack**


	2. Chapter 2

**Iron Body Glass Heart**

 **By: Bubbajack**

 **Beta: Grammarly, self-proofread, and by me, Maestro of Madness**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, FSN, or anything else that shows up in this fic.**

 **Ch.2: Tests of Friendship and Family.**

* * *

It took all of an hour, a single banana, some tapioca pudding, and a cup full of ice dust, but Jaune was feeling better, if a little sore. That was why he disliked it when his mother fretted over him. She came up with the weirdest home remedies', all of which, surprisingly, worked. But the act of having to go through them was so ridiculous it almost wasn't worth it in his opinion.

 _'Still, I'm feeling better which means I can start to get to the bottom of this…whatever is going on with me. I hope that whatever Noir does, doesn't kill me.'_ The blonde boy thought as he made his way down his family's ancestral halls.

The Arc Estate was a rather beautiful mansion. Consisting of no less than fifty bedrooms, twenty-seven bathrooms, three libraries, an indoor swimming pool, a state of the art kitchen manned by no less than thirty-five people, two tennis courts, a training area and personal forge in the basement and a stargazing tower on the roof. Jaune currently made his way towards the west wing, where his sister had set up shop, taking over several rooms and filling them with all manner of scientific devices. He knocked twice on her door before he heard a muffled, _'Come in Jaune!'_

Opening the solid oak door, the youngest Arc found himself in his sister's bedroom. In the far upper left corner there sat a four-poster bed covered in black silken sheets, the wall directly in front of him was covered in wood stained bookcases that stood over four times his height, each one filled to the brim with books on various subjects. To his right, Noir sat hunched over her scroll tapping away at the thing for reasons unknown. She wore a sterile white lab coat that complimented her otherwise almost entirely black ensemble of a black cardigan, stockings, and dress shoes. She had a pair of sharp rectangular glasses that framed her golden eyes, while her hair was held back in a loose ponytail by a golden hair clip in the shape of a lion with argents for eyes. Something he'd gotten her for her birthday a year prior.

Stepping into the room, the crinkle of paper was heard. Looking down, Jaune found loose sheaves of paper lay scattered all over the floor haphazardly. Some were newspaper clippings, while others medical and science journals. Without even thinking Jaune bent down and began to pick them up, saying, "You're letting your room get messy again Noir."

"I know I know, I'll clean it up, don't worry. Did mom's cure work?" She asked absentmindedly as she continued to type away on her scroll.

"As always. I seriously don't know how Mom does it. Here, I can't have you drown in a sea of loose leaf papers or worse, get paper cut to death." He handed her three stacks of papers having organized the mess by type as he picked them up.

Accepting them graciously with a ghost of a smile, Noir put the three bundles off to the side before turning her chair to face her sibling entirely with a calculating gaze. In response, Jaune inquired, "Well, what is it?"

"I'd like to do a simultaneous AR and MRI on you while we run a few other tests if that's alright?" Noir replied after a moment's silence.

"Will either of them hurt?" The prodigal son of the Arcs asked hesitantly, "I've been through one weird treatment today and I don't know how many more I can handle."

Noir shook her head, "They'll be painless, I promise."

"Then let's get started. My birthday party is today, so I'm kind of expected to attend." He groused.

Noir chuckled at little as she knew her brother didn't see much point in celebrating his birthday. It wasn't that he didn't like celebrations or presents, it's just he would prefer to celebrate something that didn't so directly involve himself. He enjoyed being of use to others, helping people. While he was no doormat, as his parents and sisters saw to it, he would know when he was being taken advantage of, and often made it their business _to 'show their displeasure'_ to anyone foolish enough to try, Jaune still went out of his way to help anyone in need. From something as small as carrying groceries for an old woman around town to changing a lightbulb so the staff wouldn't have to. Noir knew that was one of the main reasons why he wanted to become a Huntsman so he could help more people on a larger scale through his actions. The other was he felt like it was his duty as the sole son of the family to uphold the family tradition. As every Arc male since their great-great-grandfather had been a Huntsman.

Shaking herself out of her reverie the elder of the two Arcs led the younger through a door which held all manner of medical machines before saying, "Take off your shirt please."

Jaune raised an eyebrow as his sister once again clicked away on her scroll turning on various devices, but shrugged and did as she asked. Once he was done, she motioned for him to sit on one of those cold clinic tables while she hooked various electrodes to his chest and head, while he stood in this vast circular machine.

From her spot a good distance away, Noir spoke, "Now Jaune, I've got both tests ready to go. If you would, please do what you did last time?"

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, holding it for four seconds before letting it out through his mouth, Jaune nodded before he said, **_"Trace on."_**

He saw the hammer fire in his mind and felt…something happen, though he didn't know what. Looking over to his sister he asked, "Find anything?" No answer, "Sis? Noir, hello Remnant to Noir?"

Looking over at her, he saw his sister was staring at the screen in a shocked daze. Becoming concerned, he inquired nervously, "Noir, is everything ok? I'm not going to die am I?"

"A secondary nervous system," Noir muttered to herself, but to his Faunus heritage, he heard her, but that didn't really mean he understood.

"A what?"

"You have a second nervous system in your soul. Nerves are what makes your muscles function." Noir had clarified before she clicked away frantically on the keys of her scroll.

Jaune made to move over to her to see what she was doing, only to stop when she raised her hand, "Stay where you are, I'll bring it up on screen."

Seconds later a large holographic monitor came to life, showing a human form with jagged lines, much like one would find on a circuit board in a computer, stretching down from the head and branching out across the chest and into the arms and legs. Jaune tried to count them, but they branched off into so many paths he couldn't pull it off. Looking to his sister, he asked, "Any idea how to tell how many there are?"

"Already working on it, hold still and don't breathe for a moment, please."

Doing as bid, Jaune waited as a red beam ran up and down his body a couple of times before he was given the go ahead to breathe again. Keeping his gaze on the screen, he saw several dots appear on the screen, each one connecting to a line and turning it green. As that happened, a counter on the left-hand side slowly rose until it capped out at twenty-seven.

"Twenty-seven!" A pause, before, "Is that good?"

Noir gave a noncommittal shrug, "I have no idea…" She then magnified the picture before she added, "But it seems each one contains a portion of your aura."

"How much?"

More clicking was heard, "Just a second…ah-hah. Each one of those nerves contains 290 units of aura meaning each one is holding three point seven percent of your total capacity after factoring in the G-effect."

Jaune's comprehension was lost under all this scientific babble, "G-effect?"

"Generation effect. It was something only discovered a year or so after you were born. The potency of one's aura is passed down to one's children if at least one parent is a Hunter."

"Why a Hunter?"

"Yes, why a Hunter Jaune?" She shot back, challenging him to figure it out on his own. She did this often, challenging him to think of complex solutions to problems citing it would help him strategize in the field on the fly once he became a Huntsman.

Wracking his brain, the young blonde could only come to one logical conclusion, "Possibly because Hunter's are trained to exercise their auras on a regular basis, making it potent enough to be passed on?"

"Correct." Noir affirmed, "Since you are the son of a fourth generation Hunter, and factoring in that you're a Faunus without a trait-"

She was interrupted when her youngest sibling asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Depending on whether one is a Faunus with a Trait, one without a Trait, or human actually has an effect on Aura levels for unknown reasons. Faunus naturally have twice the aura in humans, while trait-less Faunus have one and a half times as much."

"Oh."

"Now as I was saying, you are the fifth generation Hunter and a trait-less Faunus to boot. So, factoring those two things, plus the excess aura you were born with, and your aura capacity by eighteen should actually be…" A pause as she typed away before a number appeared on the screen.

 **{7,830.}**

"Oh wow!"

Noir nodded before lacing her fingers and stretching them, cracking her knuckles before saying something that filled her brother with dread, "Yes, it's a respectable number. In fact, it looks like you're going to have a little bit more than two extra generations worth of Aura by the time you finish maturing for some odd reason." Noir shook her head, "We'll figure that out later. For now, onto the other tests. First I need you to-"

* * *

Hours later, after being forced to do everything from fire the mental gun in his head consecutively, to meditation, Jaune had learned several things. The first of which was, the hill of swords was somehow connected to or was, his semblance. He could, with but a quick firing of his gun and a 'Trace on' pull weapons from the hill at five points of aura a pop. He found from being forced to yank out weapons at random that he could tell the name and history of a weapon upon sight, and on contact, Jaune discovered that he could use it as if he'd been using it his entire life. When he attempted the same thing with armor or shields, only ghostly apparitions of aura appeared rather than solid constructs. Plus, the amount of aura, it cost just to do that was three times as much as it was to fully manifest a solid blade or spear, while even more drained by the second the longer it was active.

Noir was more perplexed that he was by the end of it all by far. _'Blade materialization, psychometry that analyses a weapon's history on sight, perfect muscle memory, each one of these should be a Semblance all their own. Yet they are all interconnected to the same thing. Just what on Remnant is going on with you little brother?'_

Huffing in annoyance, she groused, "This just doesn't make any sense."

Putting a calming hand on her arm, Jaune said, "Chill sis, if anyone can figure it out, it'd be you."

This earned him a warm smile, "Thanks and I'm sure your right and we'll figure it out in time, I just…I hate not being able to figure something out. It almost feels like I'm being teased by someone who's not even here."

"Sounds like your inner scientist is annoyed," Jaune noted cheekily.

Noir gave him an annoyed glare before she smirked sinisterly, "There is one last thing that needs to be tested before you to leave."

Swallowing his fear, Jaune asked, "And what might that be?"

"We need to measure you ADL or Aura Density Level."

Sighing, as he knew he wasn't going to like this, Jaune asked, "What is it, what does it mean, and how is it measured?"

Her wicked grin never leaving, Noir replied, "One's ADL is exactly what it sounds like, it's a measurement of how dense your aura is, or how easily it blocks incoming damage. The denser it is, the more hits it can take, and the less likely you are to get injured."

"I'm assuming there are rankings?" He asked as he followed along beside her down the hallways of the Estate.

"Oh yes, anywhere from E all the way to A-Plus."

"What's the difference?"

Ticking off her fingers, Noir replied, "E's can't block damage at all, but they heal wounds at an incredible rate. D's can prevent small munitions fire but buckle under large caliber ammo types and explosives. C's can handle any manner of bullet caliber but wilt under explosives. B's need high explosive ordinance to be injured, and for A's it would take something on the level of a broadside from an Atlesian battleship to break through their Aura shield."

"What about A-plus?"

"…A-Plus is just a theory but is considered to be impenetrable by modern weapons, if it exists." Noir explained after a hesitant pause, before throwing open the door in front of her.

As he followed her inside, he gulped. For he found himself in the family training area. Specifically, the gun range.

"Noir, w-what are we going here?" he asked ignorant of the warble in his voice.

"Well, how else do you expect to find your Aura Density Level unless we test it?" Noir replied with an angelic smile as she spoke the words of a demon, "Now, go stand down range."

 _'Oh snickerdoodles…I'm going to die.'_ Jaune thought as he marched down the field.

* * *

"I am **_so_** sorry," Noir repeated for the third time, as Jaune continued to give her a cold deadpan stare, an ice pack entrenched firmly between his legs.

Humming to herself in thought, Noir mused aloud, "Well at least there are a couple of silver linings to this situation."

"Such as?" Jaune ground out between clenched teeth.

"We know you have D-rank Aura Density, as it took a rubber fifty caliber bullet-"

"To the groin!"

Noir sheepishly nodded, "Yes, there…to penetrate your aura."

 _'She has a point…I just wish it didn't leave me feeling black and blue holding an ice pack between my legs.'_ He then asked, "And then second thing?"

"I could've accidently used live ammo instead." Noir pointed out with a grimace.

The very mental image made the birthday boy shrink back in fear. "The hell sis! You mean you didn't check?!"

"Well, they were in the riot gear section so I just assumed…" Noir muttered more to herself than him.

Jaune shuddered, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Yo Jaune, you in there?" Came the voice of Violette, his second youngest sister.

"Yeah," He called back, "Just icing down my lien purse after Noir shot it with a rubber fifty cal."

This caused the young teen to rush into the room. Violette's violet colored hair was cut in a rough bob cut, a fringe of hair partially covering her green right eye while her blue one stared at him worriedly. Since becoming a teenager, Violette had taken to dressing like a punk rocker. Black t-shirt, armbands and studded leather vest, a brown belt with a lion's head buckle that held up a pair of tartan skinny jeans, which were tucked into a pair of black and violet trimmed combat boots.

She stopped and took in the scene for a moment before turning to her elder sister and saying, "What the heck Noir! You're supposed to spank someone on their birthday, not shoot them in the groin."

Jaune rolled his eyes at this, the 'family tradition' that one was supposed to receive a whack on the bum for every year they were born on their birthday was ridiculous. But it was all in good fun, so he put up with it. Seeing she was still laying into his older sister, Jaune decided to intervene. "Violette, that's enough. Noir was just trying to help."

Turning to him only to stare incredulously Violette asked, "Help, help how? By making sure, you can't have kids?"

Jaune sighed in aggravation. One of the negatives about living in a house with eight women is the 'mystery of where babies come from' was no mystery for him. When he was five, he got curious and asked his mother who explained the process in no uncertain terms to him. He didn't sleep for two days after that and told his old man next time he saw him to _'keep his hands off his mother!'_

"She was testing my Aura Density Vi."

"Oh…" A surprised pause, "She couldn't have aimed for the center of mass?"

"I am a scientist, not a marksman," Noir added in her defense.

Shaking her head and sighing, Violette said, "Well whateves. Mom wanted me to find you and tell you it's time you got ready for your birthday, party boy."

"Right, well I'm off to take a shower then."

As he left, he heard Violette say, "I can't believe you shot Jaune in the di-"

He had never been more thankful for a door closing at cutting someone off as he was at that moment.

* * *

Jaune had just finished getting dressed in a monkey suit his mother had laid out for him when he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in." He grumbled.

The door opened revealing Noir wearing a black cocktail dress, her hair tied up in an intricate bun. "Hey."

"Ok what gives? I've never dressed up like this for my birthday before, which means something is going on, and I want to know what."

Taking a seat on his bed, Noir confessed, "I'm sorry Jaune, this was mostly my fault. I didn't think you'd mind seeing as you don't like celebrating your birthdays, so I invited the Schnee's along with General Ironwood and other influential people from Atlas to your party."

"In hopes to impress them…Damn it Noir, I wouldn't have minded if any of you had bothered to tell me in advance."

"I know, and I'm sorry, it slipped my mind with everything that happened with you earlier. Can you please try and get along with the Schnee's and General Ironwood tonight? For me?" Noir begged, a pout on her lips.

"I swear that pout should be illegalized." Jaune muttered to himself before he sighed and relented, "Fine, for you I'll do my best to play nice. But if anyone starts being insulting, all bets are off."

Smiling and ruffling his hair at his bravado Noir, while knowing full well he could now back it up, Noir replied, "Fair enough."

She then wrapped him in a hug and whispered, "Thank you so much Jaune, this means a lot to me."

"We're family, I'd do anything for any of you. You know that, right?" Jaune inquired as he pulled back from the hug.

"I know, and I promise, I'll make it up to you."

"If you really mean that, don't mention what you learned about me to any of these people. I don't really feel like being turned into a human test subject or a walking blade dispensary."

"Of course, that goes without saying. I'll just refer to you as Patient 0 if they ask." Noir promised.

Shaking his head, Jaune replied, "No, I mean don't tell them anything. Nothing about the secondary nerves, the hill, none of it."

Noir was quiet for a moment before she said, "I promise not to tell them about your special abilities, but I don't think you're the only one with a secondary nervous system in his soul Jaune."

"Seriously?"

"I think that's why people can become Hunters."

The young blonde pondered it over for a moment before he added his two cents, "Makes sense, I guess. I mean think about it. We have souls, Grimm don't, so it makes sense that we would have something they'd lack."

"My sentiments exactly."

Sighing Jaune stood, before offering his sister a hand, "So, ready to get this farce over with?"

"You promised you'd be nice." Noir reminded him as she accepted his offered hand.

"And I will, but that doesn't mean I won't be cursing in my head the entire time."

As they made their way down the halls, Jaune asked, "Do you think Rouge will show up?"

Hearing the half-hearted hope in his voice made Noir squeeze his arm in sympathy. For out of all of his sisters, Noir knew full well that Jaune was closest to the oldest among them, for she was living his dream of being a Huntress. As such when he was younger and she was still attending Beacon, he would bombard her with questions whenever she came home, and she would, in turn, help him train. The two were incredibly close. After she graduated, however, she never came back and rarely if ever contacted the family to let them know she was still alive. "I honestly don't know. But if she doesn't show, I know at the very least she'll call you on her scroll."

"Yeah…"

Hoping to cheer him up slightly Noir told him, "I hear Eis Schnee's youngest daughter is your age."

"Oh great, just what I need in my life, another girl." Jaune moaned theatrically, before muttering to himself, "I hope she's not as close minded as her old man."

* * *

Weiss anxiously ran her hands down her pale blue dress as the family limo made its way toward the Arc Estate. _'Estate, to a Faunus, an Estate could be a cave in a mountainside for all we know!'_

"Weiss, is something the matter?" Winter asked.

Putting on a look of false cheer, Weiss replied to her sister, "It's nothing Winter, everything is fine…I just can't help but wonder what a family of Faunus considers an Estate is all."

"Weiss-" Winter began to chastise only for her father to continue, "It doesn't matter what those animals might consider the lap of luxury, for the estate we are going to belong to the Arcs, the oldest noble lines in all of Vale. I assure you, it will be a proper building if nothing else."

 _'Father, your hatred and treatment of the Faunus is beginning to rub off on Weiss.'_ Winter noted with distaste as she saw her sister nodding to her father's harsh words.

 _'Still, it is to be expected, she was so much closer to mother than I, and to lose her at her age to that White Fang assassin…'_

Winter remembered it like it was yesterday _. She was eleven at the time, Weiss five. They were playing out back while mother tended to her garden. She loved all manner of aster flowers. The two of them were having a tea party at Weiss' insistence when suddenly, a Faunus in a Grimm Mask with red hair and a pair of black bull horns on his head appeared, a sheathed katana at his hip. Both screamed drawing their mother's attention, who came running with a spade in hand. Seeing the man, her motherly instincts kicked in and she rushed him. With effort bordering on contempt, he cut her down in one fluid motion in front of them, staining the grass with her blood._

 _Just as he was about to do the same to them, he was stabbed in the foot. Roaring in pain, he thrust his crimson blade down into their mother's back who, while still alive, was rapidly bleeding out. The act made her jerk, look at them both with pain filled eyes before she fell limp and unmoving. The assassin's cry of pain, however, brought the guards, forcing him to retreat, but before he left, he smirked at them cruelly before he dropped a half wilted rose on their mother's corpse._

Winter was pulled out of her morbid memories when the limousine came to a stop. Peering out the window, she found they had finally arrived at the Arc Estate. It was a large mansion, not as large as her families back home, but Winter was confident it was plenty large enough for the Arcs. Stepping out of the car as their chauffer opened the door for her, she barked a quick command to the wizened hunchbacked butler of the Arcs whose tanned skin was lined who was about to take the gifts from their resting place in the trunk.

"There's no need for that, we can at least carry them ourselves."

"Let the help do their jobs, Winter. Besides, we didn't even come here to celebrate some brats' birthday." Her father groused as he smoothed out his suit before running a finger and thumb through his mustache.

"Father, if we are to intrude on a celebration with business, then I believe it only proper we at least act like guests at a party."

Father and daughter glared one another down, neither willing to look away first, as it would signify defeat. Finally, Eis huffed making his mustache bristle before he conceded, "So much like your mother…very well, Winter, we'll play the part of guests, for now."

"The party for the young master is being held around back, this way please." The Butler stated before making his way to a small wooden gate that was surrounded on both sides by thick hedges. Pushing it open he motioned them through but not before saying, "Be warned, your reputation for racism proceeds you, Eis Schnee. Both Lady Arc and all eight of her daughters, not just Lady Noir, are Faunus. To insult them is to invite death from both Master Arc and the young master."

"Do you always give out warnings to guests' butler?" Eis asked bristling.

"Only to those whom I think might make a fool of themselves without them, _sir_. And my name is Sebastian if it pleases you."

"I'll have your job, Butler!" Eis promised, cheeks turning red from indignation.

Sebastian turned and faced the CEO, "No, I doubt you will. You see, I raised the Master after he lost his own father in the Great War. Before I served the Master's late father, I served his grandfather and his father before him."

Weiss took a moment to speak, "Umm Sebastian, wouldn't that make you four centuries old, at least?"

"Indeed it would Miss Schnee."

"Weiss please." She requested.

"As you say, Miss Weiss. But yes, I served the Arcs' Great-Great Grandfather, and scion of the line as a squire. For besides being no slouch in the Aura department, I am also a Faunus."

"Most Faunus don't live four or so centuries, Sebastian," Weiss stated flatly.

Pulling up his coat ever so slightly the elderly man revealed he was touting a tortoise shell on his back, hence his hunched posture. "They do if they are a Tortoise Faunus with training as a Hunter Miss Weiss. Here we are."

Sebastian pushed open another door similar to the first, revealing a party already in full swing. Paper lanterns filled with fire dust had been hung on wires from trees. A massive tent pavilion had been set up even from here Weiss could make out at least five solid polished wooden tables, four of which were piled in the center with all manner of food, while the last was threatening to break under the small mountain of presents that had been stacked upon it.

Upon a simple stage was a blonde-haired blue-eyed boy who looked to be the same age as herself currently playing a song on a polished natural finish electric guitar. An older girl with a bob cut of violet hair, wearing a dark blue dress that looked to have a roaring lion crudely painted in its front worn open over the dress was a motorcycle jacket, and on her feet were a pair of brothel creeper shoes.

Currently, the blonde was singing **_"I Drink Alone"_** by George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

 _'He's a talented singer.'_ Weiss conceded, at least in her own thoughts, while also grudgingly admitting that he could certainly play the guitar. She watched as he swayed and moved along with the sax notes in the song. At one point she rolled her eyes and huffed in amusement as he duck-walked across the stage while still playing cords on his instrument. Adding a third and a fourth to her list of mental compliments, Weiss noted the boy had a natural charisma as he seemed to innately know how to work the crowd. While he finished the song by sliding forwards on his legs, and playing the final notes while holding his guitar aloft, showing he was quite agile.

"He sure is something isn't he little sister?"

Weiss was snapped out of her staring by her sister's voice. She'd come over carrying a plate full of some of her favorite foods. Steak tartare, Coq au vin, Tripoux, and some sort of pie she didn't recognize.

"Thank you Winter-wait, how long was I standing there for?"

Winter smiled teasingly, "Long enough for father and I to place our gifts on the table and for Father to find General Ironwood while I fixed us both some food. You must've seen something you liked, hmm?"

"Humph, don't be ridiculous Winter!" Weiss replied while looking away before taking a bite of the strange pie on her plate.

The exotic dish was surprisingly spicy, possessing a fishy, and sweet texture due to its contents and its crust. "What is this? It's rather good."

"I'm not quite sure, Sebastian recommended it." Winter commented before taking a bite herself and saying, "You're right, though, it's quite good. I wonder what's in it."

"That would be crawfish pie."

The Schnee sisters turned to find the blonde boy from on stage with his guitar hanging around his neck, a plate of food in one hand, a champagne glass in the other.

"Crawfish? That's Creole isn't it?" Weiss asked giving the pie a dubious poke with her fork.

"From Vacou, yes. But a long time ago, a lot of people from Vacou migrated to Vale for some reason and took their way of cooking with them. In the end, Vale cuisine and Vacou Creole have a lot in common due to mixing together over a couple hundred years." He explained.

Winter took a moment to digest this information, "You seem to know a lot about this."

"I like cooking." He then noted her ox-horn rimmed glass and spoke in a surprised tone, "I didn't take you for the mead drinking type. You look more like a wine or champagne kind of girl."

Looking into her glass, Winter crinkled her nose in distaste. "I assumed it was champagne."

"Why is mead being served here in the first place?" Weiss wondered aloud.

Again the blonde spoke up, "That would be because five generations ago now, Julianos Arc traded brewing recipes with one of his companions, Odine Valkyrie. In return for learning the secrets of mead, Odine was given the knowledge to make red wine."

"You know a lot about the Arc's History." Winter mused with Weiss nodding along in agreement.

"Ah, my apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. Jaune Arc, at your service ladies." He said, bowing as good as he could with his guitar on his neck and his hands occupied with food and drink.

"So you're the birthday boy. It's nice to meet you Jaune. I'm Winter, and this is my little sister Weiss."

Giving the two a roguishly charming smile that was entirely unintentional on his part, he replied, "Pleasure is all mine ladies. Of that, I'm positive."

Weiss huffed and looked away, while Winter was amused at one so young acting so suave. Winter was perplexed when his smile soured, becoming a slight scowl and his sapphire blue eyes became flinty as he stared off into the distance. "I **_really_** don't like that guy."

Following his gaze, both Winter and Weiss were surprised to find his ire directed at their own father. Seeing her little sister about to speak up in his defense, Winter jabbed her in the arm with her shoulder before giving a sharp shake of her head. Instead, she asked, "Why do you dislike him so much?"

Jaune looked around for a moment before he motioned with his head towards the tent flap. The trio then made their way outside guided by the light of lanterns and the shattered moon. Flopping down one of many logs that had been placed on the ground as a form of temporary seating. Plopping himself down and motioning for them to sit by patting either side of him, Jaune answered Winter's earlier question, "He's a racist who sees Faunus as nothing but cheap labor and treats Faunus that work for him like slave laborers. The only reason he hired my sister Noir is to get the bad press off his back…that and she was probably the most qualified person for the job, whatever her job is. Noir invited him and his kids here, whom I still have yet to meet…Sis wants me to be nice to them, says it'll be good for me to have friends my own age…By Oum, I hope they're not bigoted like him."

Both Weiss and Winter looked past their host to silently communicate with one another the way only sisters could.

 _'Does this dolt really not know who we are?'_ Weiss inquired with a simple raised eyebrow.

 _'It seems like it,'_ Winter replied with a silent amused smirk. She then decided to learn more about him via asking, "What if we told you, Eis Schnee is like that not only because the White Fang have been harassing his company since his own father's time, but that one of them killed his wife?"

Jaune gave the two heiresses a long searching look before he replied slowly as if measuring his every word, "I would say that's a terrible loss for him…However, that still doesn't give him the right to paint all Faunus with the same brush."

Winter nodded while Weiss looked conflicted, "I agree. While the saying _'One bad apple ruins the bunch'_ can be true, another saying, _'Don't judge a book by its cover'_ is even more so."

This caused the Arc to smile a little. "Well, it's good to know all the Schnee's aren't racist bigots."

"When did you figure it out?" Weiss asked, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"I don't know, maybe when your sister mentioned your mom getting killed by a White Fang member? My condolences for that by the way." Jaune said as he shifted his gaze towards his own mother, "I can't imagine what I'd do short of hunting down and slowly killing the person responsible if I were put in that position."

"I thought about it for a time," Winter admitted. "That's why I wanted to become a Huntress initially, to become strong enough to avenge my mother's death."

Upon hearing that, Jaune gave the older of the two another once over. She was dressed in white an icy blue, her white hair fell like an avalanche behind her back while a fringe of hair covered her left eye and a single strand hung down curling around like an icicle, and it showed off her icy pale blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of an icy blue-white dress, a white sash tied around her waist from which hung a sheathed saber, and white stilettos that looked as if they could be used as improvised weapons.

The moment took a glance at her blade, he knew it as well as he knew the back of his own hand. It was _Ishild_ , a bell guard fencing saber that hid a dagger in its hilt. Both blades were infused with a different kind of Dust. Ice on the main blade, and Gravity on the dagger causing it to swing at phenomenal speed. The sword itself was named after Winter and Weiss's mother.

 _'Ice battle huh? I'm sensing a theme here.'_ Jaune noted.

Weiss too wore a white dress with stylized blue snowflake designs scattered throughout its length. Her own hair was the same shade as her sisters, but it came down only to her chin. A simple hairpin kept it out of her eyes, while a pair of blue and white heels on her feet. She too had a weapon on her waist.

 _Myrtenaster_ , a multi-action dust rapier which utilized the various forms of dust stored in its revolver chamber to significant effect. Combined with what he gleaned of both her and Winter's shared semblance, Weiss could become quite a little powerhouse in the future.

Standing up and brushing himself off, before divesting himself of his guitar he asked the two, "How about a quick spar?"

The two had blinked in surprise before Weiss scoffed, "You don't even have a weapon you dolt!"

 ** _"Trace on."_**

Moments later a pair of standard xiphos were in his hands, leaving the girls dumbfounded.

"How did you do that?" Winter inquired, curiously.

"You have your semblances, and I have mine."

Both Winter and Weiss blinked owlishly before Weiss nodded in confirmation, "I see, your semblance lets you manifest weapons."

"I'd be willing to indulge you, but these stilettos aren't made for running, much less fighting." Winter huffed.

"It must be true what my sisters say, being beautiful is hard and painful work."

His words earned him odd looks from both Schnee women which Jaune returned with his own stare of confusion. "What, did I say something wrong?"

This caused Winter to giggle behind her hand while Weiss groaned out yet another _'dolt.'_

A shiver ran up and down Jaune's spine. Seconds later a black shadow passed over the shattered moon.

Though he did not possess a trait like other Faunus, he still possessed excellent night vision, and his hearing was according to his mother, about four and a half times better than regular persons. So, when he heard the distinct sound of wingbeats on the wind along with the light of the moon being suddenly blotted out, he reacted.

Spinning on his heel, Jaune tossed aside his Xiphos and materialized both the black bow and nocked an arrow in one smooth motion before firing. The draw weight of the bow was so immense; he could only bring it to a half draw instead of a full draw. The simple arrow was still loosened with great force. Enough to send the swooping Nevermore swerving off course when the arrow impaled its beak.

"Shit! Go inside and get my Mom and Old Man! I'll hold it off!" he ordered the Schnee women as he readied another arrow. As he watched the feathered Grimm swerve in the air, he noticed it was NOT in fact a Nevermore. Its face was too round, its beak too small. Its body stockier and less lanky, the talons on its feet were much longer more curved, and sharper than a Nevermores. Its eyes took up a fair portion of its face, which was primarily white with red streaks like a trail of tears formed from blood ran down the sides of its cheeks.

He fired another arrow, this time managing to strike the thing in one of its eyes, causing it to screech in pain before kiting away prematurely and taking to the skies, its form becoming a black sphere that blotted out the moon once again as it prepared another dive.

 _'Damn it,'_ Jaune curse in his head, _'I can't pull the bow back to full draw, and even if I could, I doubt standard arrows will be enough to take that thing down.'_

"Arc, you need to send your Aura into your limbs!"

"Weiss, what are you doing here?! I told you to head inside!" Jaune called back as the raptor Grimm began its descent.

"Winter's handling it, so just be quiet and do as I say you dolt!"

"Yeah, yeah." He had said before he flooded his limbs with Aura. True to her word, he could now easily draw back the bow. However, there was still one problem…he didn't have anything to take out that beast.

 _'What do I do…what do I do? I need something fast, something that can take that thing out in one shot.'_

Jaune could've sworn he heard the sound of gears slowly gyrating in his head moments before the image of a great sword with a blade of crimson and fittings as black as obsidian sprang into his mind's eye. He recognized it instantly as Hrunting, the sword used to slay a giant known as Grendel by the hero Beowulf. Its unique ability allowed it to hone in on the weak point of foes.

 _'That's nice and all but it's useless to me as a sword.'_ Jaune thought sourly as the Grimm bird of prey reached the apex of its ascent before spreading its wings while preparing to dive-bomb him.

Suddenly, the weapon began to change shape in his mind. Twisting in on itself to become more like a corkscrew. Like an arrow. _'Can I really do it? Can I actually change its shape like that?'_

The young Arc had no time to ponder for he heard Weiss cry out, "Arc!"

The blonde snapped his head towards the darkened heavens to see the Grimm diving not towards him as he expected, but Weiss. Jaune stopped thinking. The time for thought was over, now, now was the time for action. Hardly conscious of what he was doing he shunted aura into his legs and leaped towards the heiress, kicking up a cloud of dust as he kicked off the ground. Milliseconds later, he was in front of his self-appointed charge, bow raised in defiance.

"You won't touch her! **_Trace On!_** " The barrel in his mind cocked back before firing.

Golden lightning appeared in his empty hand briefly before taking the shape of the weapon in his mind's eye. Twisted into the form of a makeshift arrow. He didn't know what caused him to do it. Perhaps his fury at the Creature of Grimm? An unknown instinct? Sheer dumb luck? Whatever the case, Jaune pumped his aura into the arrow, much like he'd done his arms and legs mere seconds before…

He pushed and pushed his aura into the weapon until it became something else. Something _Fragile, Dangerous…Broken_. Then, the words fell unbidden from his lips before he loosened his deadly bolt.

"Fly across the crimson plains, Red Hound!"

The moment he let go of the drawstring, a loud crack was heard as the sound barrier was broken fifteen times over, such was the speed of Hrunting as it turned into a crimson bolt of light that streaked across the starlit heavens, before hitting home and exploding in the beast's head. A massive glow of red light lit up the night's sky outshining even the moon for a brief second before fading away. As the crimson light began to fade away, the silhouette of the Grimm, or pieces of it, fell to the ground.

Seeing the threat taken care of, he turned to Weiss, and asked, "Are you ok, Weiss."

All Weiss could do was stare as he stood in a backdrop of bright red light. _'He's just like a Knight, or an Archer from fairytales Mother used to read me before she died.'_

"Weiss?" Jaune asked concerned.

Hearing her name snapped her out of her reverie. "What is it, dunce?" she snapped on reflex.

"You're ok, right?"

Looking away towards the ground for a moment, Weiss nodded, "Yes, I'm fine thanks to you."

"That was quite the impressive shot."

The two pre-teens looked over to see all of the adults crowding around the pavilion opening, Ozpin, Glynda, and Jaune's parents at the fore. All except Ozpin seemed to be staring at him open mouthed.

Feeling self-conscious, Jaune gave an awkward little wave and said, "Hey Uncle Ozzy, Auntie Glyn, everybody else, when did you get here?"

"Glynda and I arrived just a few minutes ago. We were planning to surprise you, but it seems you saw fit to do the surprising."

"Son, would you mind explaining just what that was?" Xanthus asked after managing to find his voice.

"That's what we would like to know too!" A familiar voice that made Jaune turn his head so quickly his neck snapped. For standing across the yard, in form-fitting armor made of heat resistant black ceramics lined with jagged red markings and crimson colored arm, leg, and shoulder guards, was Rouge. Her crimson hair flowing in the breeze, a smile on her red painted lips as she looked bemusedly at her little brother.

Bending down from her 5'11 height she spread her arms wide and asked, "Well are you just going to stare at me or are you going to come over here and give me a hug Jauney?"

The eight-year-old dashed forward into his eldest sisters' arms while yelling her name, causing her to laugh and return the embrace for a time before she held him at arm's length saying, "Let me get a good look at you."

Rouge took a moment to look her littlest sibling up and down before saying, "You've gotten taller, and not even in a combat school yet and already saving maidens in distress."

"It's nothing big sis…" Jaune paused before noticing the woman beside his sister. She was tall wearing a black and red yukata with a sheathed katana on her waist and a metal mask in the shape of a Nevermore on her face, a messy mane of black hair cascading down her back. With a glance, he could tell its name was Masamune, a Multi-Action Dust Ōdachi.

"Who's your friend sis?" he inquired.

Standing, Rouge put a hand around the other woman before yanking the mask off revealing a pretty mature face framing crimson eyes making her shift slightly uncomfortable as the other girl introduced, "This is Raven Branwen, she's my partner."

"Hi, Rae, pleased to meet ya. Thanks for looking after Rouge, I know she's a handful-" Jaune was cut off as Rouge suddenly put him in a headlock grunting out, "Who's a handful, huh Jauney?"

Raven smiled warmly at the touching scene of siblings reuniting. Her red eyes hardened at the sight of Ozpin approaching with Ironwood and Glynda at his back. They stared each other down for a time, and then, Ozpin spoke, "Raven," He said in greeting, "It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"It's been eight years, as you know well Ozpin." Raven replied heatedly, before sighing and saying, "I could care less about you or your agenda headmaster. I'm here because my partner and I were hunting a dangerous Grimm, and Rouge wanted to visit her brother on the way back since we were in the area."

"The same one Jaune just killed?" Ozpin inquired.

"The very same," Raven affirmed before going silent, choosing instead to watch the two Arcs tussle in the dirt.

"Uncle, Uncle, I give!" Jaune said as Rouge sat on top of her brother, his arm twisted behind his back.

"Get off your brother and come give your old man a hug Rouge." Her father demanded boisterously.

Happily doing as bidden, Rouge hopped off her brother and embraced the rest of her family before everyone went inside, as it was time for presents and cake.

* * *

With his eldest sister by his side, Jaune began opening a small mountain of presents. While he enjoyed them all, those that came from his family and a few select others stood out to him. From Violette, he received the guitar he was playing earlier. From his second oldest sister Ciel, a twenty-one-year-old chef who was running her own prospering restaurant in Vale, he received his own permanent reserved table. Noir promised to help him better understand what his semblance was capable of, as she'd been busy as of late. Colombe, seventeen with a head of feather-white soft hair, got him a scroll so he could gain information from the world at large, while fifteen-year-old Saffron, whose hobby was making dust infused clothing, created him something special.

It was a burnt orange jacket with a metal collar and clasped close by two silver crosses on the lapels. The whole thing was trimmed in gold that trailed down to just past his knees. According to her, by infusing it with both lightning and fire dust, it should be able to easily keep him comfortable in most environments. Noting a slight incense smell, he asked where she attained the material, Colombe admitted she bought the cassock of Father Jock who died a few months ago from old age. Jaune was unperturbed. Better to be repurposed then to rot away.

His most valuable gifts came from Rouge, Weiss, and Winter. From Rogue, he received a sleeveless, form-fitting black chest piece made of the same ceramic material she wore and trimmed in gold on the chest. From Winter, he got a book entitled **_"How to slay your Grimm."_** A book detailing different types of Grimm and how to effectively combat them.

"If I didn't think you'd beat me for it, I'd kiss you for this." He told her upon seeing the title.

Shaking his head at the blonde's flirty nature, Winter replied, "You're too young for **_me_** , Jaune."

Weiss spared her sister a glance at the way she stressed the 'me' but said nothing as he opened her own gift.

"Heh, I could've used these earlier, it would've protected my wrist from the drawstring." Jaune noted pulling out a pair of black polymer, full fingered and fully articulate gothic gauntlets, the middle of each joint colored burnt orange in color. With just a look, Jaune could tell these could also work as makeshift bracers before slipping them on his hands.

"Thanks, Weiss, I appreciate this…though I do think it's kind of odd that all you just so happened to get some things that matched."

"We color coordinated before we bought or made anything, Jaune," Saffron replied.

"I see, so you three have been in cahoots for weeks then?" Jaune asked while pointing to Weiss, Saffron, and Rouge in turn.

"Weiss was a recent addition, but yes, Rouge and I have been in contact, who do you think fixes her outfit whenever it breaks?" Saffron asked, before giving her eldest sister a look and saying, "I don't know what you get up to Rouge, but it must be dangerous for you to destroy you suit once a month.

"It's more because she's reckless," Raven added while chowing her way through a plate of food. While occasionally glancing towards the blonde-haired blue-eyed boy. _'He killed a Nyctimene in one shot, what is he? The boss would want to know about him…but I know Hydra wouldn't want her family involved in what we do.'_

Raven's thoughts turned to a certain blonde-haired lilac-eyed child, _'I know I wouldn't.'_

"Well, Jaune how was your birthday?" Rouge asked.

"I have my family, I made a couple of friends, I got some cool new gear and a weird yet awesome semblance. I'd say, it's good." He said giving her a winning smile.

* * *

All good things come to an end. Thus, Rouge and Raven had to be on their way and seemingly too soon, it was time for Jaune and the Schnee Heiresses to part ways. Their father was already waiting in the limo. But the girls lingered. Winter offered him a warm smile, "Thank you Jaune for the lovely evening."

"Your wel-"He paused in shock as Winter planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. "And that was for saving my little sister's life tonight."

Anger flared in Weiss's eyes and heat collected in her cheeks as she watched her sister act so-familiar-with this boy! _'The very same boy who saved me not her! -wait, what?'_

Winter then made her way to the waiting limousine, leaving her sister and rescuer alone.

"So, I'll see you around yeah?" Jaune finally said breaking the awkward silence that had gathered between them.

Weiss thought it over for a moment looking at the car, then the blonde and back again several times before coming to some kind of decision. Nodding, she said firmly, "Yes, yes you will Arc."

She then darted in and kissed his other cheek, leaving him just as stunned. She then pirouetted on her heel and made her way towards the waiting car. As it began to drive away, she called, out the window, "Keep yourself out of trouble you dunce!"

Shaking his head Jaune made his way towards the house, thinking, _'One minute she's kissing my cheek, the next she's insulting me. Weiss Schnee, you are one weird girl.'_

* * *

 **Words: 8818 Pages: 18 Date Completed: 9/20/16**

* * *

 **AN: Welcome back all to the second chapter of Iron Body, Glass Heart. I do hope if you're reading this, you enjoyed yourself. Now, that said, I would like to thank my new Beta Maestro of Madness for double checking my work. Also thanks to all 39 of you who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Same goes to the 198 who Faved, and the 261 people who added this fic to their Alert lists.**

 **Now, I feel the need to explain some of the mechanics I've added to this fic. To be more specific I'm taking Nasuverse concepts and adapting them to the world of RWBY. Something like this needs a name, and I think I've got one:**

 **Welcome everyone to…the Concept Corner!**

 **Now let's get down to it shall we? First things first** **Aura Levels** **. Here's how it works:**

 **Base Aura level for a human: 40 units of prana.**

 **Base Aura level for a Trait-less Faunus: 60 units**

 **Base Aura level for a Faunus: 80 units of prana.**

 **Base Aura level for first generation Human Hunter: 720 units of prana**

 **Base Aura level for First Gen Trait-less Faunus: 1080 units of prana.**

 **Base Aura level for First Gen Faunus Hunter: 1440 units of prana**

 **G Effect: Generation Effect:** **Every subsequent generation will have more prana/Aura than the last, as Aura gain is multiplicative. Only applicable if at least one parent is a Hunter, as the Aura is trained and potency is passed down to future offspring.**

 **I got this idea from Magi constantly trying to get better and better Magic Circuits via selective breeding.**

 **Aura Density:** **Acts like Nasuverse Magic Resistance. Ranks are as follows:**

 **A+: One is effectively untouchable by any known modern weapon.**

 **A: Aura effectively makes one immune to modern arms carried by Hunters. It is not an exaggeration to call one with this rank a 'Hunter-Killer'. Nothing short of an Atlasian ships broadside laser cannon can pierce this defense.**

 **B: Aura can defend against small explosives but larger more potent high explosives can still get through.**

 **C: Aura defends against all forms of weapon-fire, but not damage on the level of explosives.**

 **D: Aura defends against small caliber arms, but cannot defend against large cartridge rounds or explosives.**

 **E: Aura does not defend against attacks but it offers rapid healing to damage at the cost of aura.**

 **And lastly because I know someone is gonna bring it up, Jaune's power level:**

 **He's really not all 'that' strong even with all the Aura he has. How do I know? I crunched the numbers which are as follows:**

 **Jaune's maximum Aura capacity: 7830**

 **One third set aside for Reinforcement: 2609**

 **Two Thirds for Projection: 5219**

 **Cost to Trace: 5 Aura/Prana**

 **Cost to Reinforce: 2 Aura/Prana**

 **Number producible of Broken A-Double-Plus Rank NP's: 33**

 **Number of Producible Broken A-Plus Rank NP's: 48**

 **Number of Producible Broken A Rank NP's: 91**

 **Number of Producible Broken B-Rank NP's: 111**

 **Number of Producible Broken C-Rank NP's: 141**

 **Number of Producible Broken D-Rank NP's: 189**

 **Number of Producible Broken E-Rank NP's: 307**

 **Number of Producible Broken Weapons: 745**

 **Amount of Aura used to manifest Armor or Shield per second: 15. Amount used per minute: 900 Aura.**

 **Longest amount of time an Armor or shield can be manifested for while withholding aura for later Reinforcement use: 5min 47 secs. Or 8min 42sec if all reserves are put into maintaining armor shield.**

 **As you can see from the table above, Jaune can only fire off so many weapons above A-rank, and even then he would only use them against groups as most NP's of that rank or higher are Anti-Army/Fortress/Country/World or higher except for five (Arondight, Durandal, God Force, La Mort Espoir, and Fragarach are all Anti-Unit.) Most others below A Rank are Anti-Unit and thus are fair game. Of course Jaune will get the most 'bang for his buck' by tracing and braking any number of nameless weapons in his armory, which I believe also contains a fair amount of Mystic Codes as well. There is more I'd like to talk about but it can wait till next time as I think this Authors Note is long enough. Thanks for reading and till next time, Bubbajack out! Peace!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Iron Body Glass Heart**

 **By: Bubbajack**

 **Betas: Maestro of Madness, Grammarly, Self-proofread.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or FSN. They belong to Rooster Teeth and Type-Moon.**

 **Ch.3: Dreams and Resolutions.**

* * *

Jaune not for the first time since his eighth birthday, was having an odd dream. It consisted of the life of someone like himself. Someone who wished to be a hero like he did. _The Hero survived a terrible disaster at a young age. A raging inferno that took the lives of over five-hundred people. Of those people, he was one of the few survivors. The Hero was saved by the Old Hero. The Hero, upon seeing the look of absolute joy on the Old Hero's face, wanted to make others as happy as he was._

 _The Old Hero adopted the Hero as his son. For a time, he asked the Old Hero to teach him magic, as the Old Hero confessed to being a mage. But for a time, the Old Hero refused, citing the craft of magic being fraught with danger. But the Hero was relentless and after much begging and pleading, the Old Hero relented. However, the Old Heroes ways were that of practicality not, tried and tested research. Thus, he could only teach the Hero so much, and improperly at that._

 _On the night of the Old Hero's death, he past his ideal, that of saving everyone down to the Hero, who swore to bring it to fruition. He tried his hardest for years in secret, as magic was supposed to be kept quiet from the public._

Yet for all his effort, Jaune saw little in the way of actual results. In fact, if Jaune was being honest, he didn't think the Hero was trying very hard to be a 'Hero of Justice' like he promised the Old Hero. Sure, he had only a couple of skills, but did he try using them on more than just junk? From what Jaune could tell from watching, no, he did not. From what he could tell, this 'Structural Analysis' could be incredibly useful if used properly. If, for example, a hostage situation was taking place, he could easily scan the building, find a weak point or unguarded place of entry, and then plan a way to rescue hostages as he would know the floorplan. His opinion of this Hero got even lower as he entered someplace equivalent to a Hunter Academy only to be blatantly treated as a tool by someone who was clearly a coward and a bully. What was more, the Hero failed to realize that someone in front of him was in dire need of his help. Jaune began to wonder if this Hero would ever amount to anything.

 _ **"Wait, maybe he's doing something wrong. He keeps talking about making Magic Circuits to do magecraft. I've never needed to do that. The pain of having a hot iron rod jammed into my spine only happened once, and that's when my Circuits activated for the first time."**_

 _Yes Jaune decided, Shirou Emiya was most certainly doing something wrong. But the fact that he kept going, despite the pain and lack of results, was nothing short of admirable. He still didn't know whether or not he would become a Hero of Justice. But he respected his resolve to try._

That all began to change one cold day…

 _The Hero stayed late again as a favor to a friend. Yet as he left, he heard the clang of weapons. Rushing out to the front of his school he beheld two beings clashing. One in red in black wielding Kanshou and Bakuya, the other in armored blued steel swinging around a cursed crimson spear named Gáe Bolg with enough force to stir up gale-force winds, he was Cu Chulainn, Irish hero of legend. Faced with such an impossible display of might, he backed away in awe, alerting them to his presence. Then he bolted like a deer. He didn't make it very far before he was gored in the chest by Cu Chulainn._

 _For a moment, the vision faded out, like a television with bad reception. When it continued, the Hero found himself alone, with naught but a crystal pendant. He did not seem to be questioning the fact that he'd been stabbed in the chest very much, as he leisurely made his way home._

 _His home, it was vast. Too large for a single person to live in alone, yet he did so. His guardian, an immature older woman seemed content to come around for food while leaving him to his own devices. This arrangement worked against him now as he soon found himself cornered by Cu Chulainn once again._

 _But something different happened as the Hero fled to his shed. This time, he somehow managed to summon a stalwart defender to his aid. She was a stunning if petite young blonde with green eyes clad in silver and blue armor, a skirt of royal blue around her waist. With speed and strength that would put veteran hunters to shame, she charged forth, tearing the earth asunder underfoot as she began her assault. She quickly drove him into retreat, only for her to attempt to attack one of his classmates, and the crimson and black clad man who had been fighting previously._

 _"Stop!" With but a word, the Blonde Warrior was brought to a stop._

 _Jaune wasn't sure if the Hero had made a good move right there. After all, hadn't one of them just tried to kill him twice previously? Was it really wise to extend an olive branch to such a person. All he could to was watch and find out._

 _He then proceeded to invite her inside for tea, as she explained just what he'd gotten himself into. The Holy Grail War. A secret conflict between, to Jaune, amounted to Aura users summoning long dead heroes and having them fight to the death for a wish. She then took him, to all places, a church, filling him with unease._

For though both Humans and Faunus worshiped Oum, the Human Church saw both Grimm and Faunus as an affront to creation. Whereas the Grimm tested humanity from without, the Faunus and their 'temptations' as the Church put it, tested mankind from within. Their attempts to segregate the Faunus and force them all to move to Menagerie, that sparked the Faunus Revolution, and from the ashes of that, the now militant White Fang, and the Church having lost a fair portion of their influence on the people of Remnant.

While the Faunus saw him in a different fashion they saw every action they took in life as having an effect upon themselves in death, and upon said death, it was the accumulated 'karma' that would decide one of three fates for them. The first if you were evil, would be to become like a Grimm, a mindless monster bent on naught but destruction of all you once held dear. The second if you were neither good nor evil, you would be reborn once again, and given 'another chance to get it right'. The last and hardest to achieve was if one was truly good, at which point they were taken to the paradise of Oum, a place without prejudice, hatred, or fear of Grimm, forever.

His parents like most on Remnant after the Great War and Faunus Civil War, believed that each person should decide their own fate and let their actions in life speak for them, rather than fear of some impending cosmic retribution that awaited after death.

 _It was both because of these thoughts and his personality that Jaune hated the Priest, same as the Hero, the moment he laid eyes on the man. He had this cocky 'I know something you don't' air about him, a cocky smirk on his lips, but it was his eyes that put Jaune on edge. For they were empty sans for hints of amusement he showed upon teasing the girl or mocking the Hero._

 _As they left the place of worship, they were accosted by the Fairy and the Black Giant. The battle was a sight to behold, and even further cemented the idea that these Servant's possessed capabilities far beyond any huntsman. The sound barrier was casually broken by the rapid movements of the combatants. The sound of steel clanging against stone rang throughout the park, and it was rather obvious that the flaxen-haired blonde was slowly but surely loosing this fight. Then, much to his surprise, the girl stepped in. Taking what looked to be a handful of dust crystals from her pockets and charging them with her aura before tossing them skyward, wherein in the Hero of Rusted Iron fired several arrows from a distance he couldn't even see after the dust crystals solidified over the Giant before causing a massive explosion…only for it to be completely ineffective._

 _The Black Giant stood within the flaming crater unfazed as the blonde swordswoman retreated, only to follow her into a cemetery on the Fairies' command. He was told by the girl to stay put. That he was of no use in this fight. She may as well have spoken to a wall for all the good it did her, because he went charging off into the forest after her anyway. Jaune didn't know if he made the right decision yet again, but he did know that if it was him, and he was told to stand by and do nothing while others put their lives on the line...well, he wouldn't be able to do it either. So he couldn't really blame him for rushing in even though he knew full well he couldn't do anything._

 _It was only through the intervention of the Hero of Rusted Iron. For he sent forth a shot that decimated the entire cemetery, turning into naught but a smoldering crater. Somehow, the Hero saw the shot coming and managed to pull his Servant to safety…_

* * *

Jaune awoke from his dream, feeling conflicted. This was the eighth night in a row that he'd had visions of such events and now he knew something for sure…the Hero's ideal while beautiful in theory, was incredibly flawed in practice. Maybe it was due to the fact he had a family while the Hero from his dreams did not, but he found the idea of throwing one's life away for random strangers at least not without having a proper plan in place to minimize potential harm to himself and others around him…distasteful. Not when he had family and friends that clearly cared for his wellbeing. And while he couldn't deny that it wasn't wrong to help people in need, doing so while completely disregarding the thoughts and feelings of the people closest to him, and potentially putting people in danger by rushing in recklessly without a plan felt wrong on some base, instinctual level to him.

Looking over to his clock, he saw it was a little past three in the morning, yet Jaune's mind was abuzz with thoughts and emotions. So much so that he knew there was no way he was going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. _'I need to talk to somebody.'_

With such thoughts in mind he got up from his bed, clad in his footie pajamas and made his way down the frigid halls of his family home. For the place was built long ago and thus lacked proper heating and cooling. Jaune made his way down the halls coming to a stop before his father's study, when he saw the telltale signs of life in the form of the light of a fire coming from beneath the crack at the bottom of the door.

He knocked thrice before letting himself in. The study was covered in mahogany and stone, the floors furniture, and crown molding consisted of the rich wood, while the walls were of carved stone. A fire roared in a stone fireplace to his left which was surrounded by several plush chairs. His father sat behind an ancient wooden desk, in a plush leather chair. Both of which belonged to their forebear Julianos Arc, according to Sebastian anyway. Xanthus looked up from the ledger he was scribbling in when he heard the knock. Seeing his son come into his study caused Xanthus to frown and say, "What are you doing up son? You should be sleeping."

Jaune nodded, "I know, it's just," He paused to collect his thoughts, "Lately, I've been having this really weird dream or cycle of dreams I guess."

Xanthus took a moment to study his only son's face. 'He's conflicted about something.'

"Why don't you take a seat and tell me about it son?" He said, motioning towards the seats in front of the fire before stepping over to his coffee machine and making a cup for himself and then a cup of hot chocolate for his son before sitting down across from him.

"Are you sure Old Man? You looked busy, and this can wait." Jaune told him.

But his father waved him off, "Nonsense, if it's important enough to have you out of bed in the middle of the night needing to talk about it, then it must be important. Now, tell me what's on your mind son."

Jaune took a deep breath, thinking _'Well, here goes nothing.'_ Before he began, "Well, I had this really weird dream. In it, there's this guy, he survives this horrible fire. Like it was really bad, a lot of people died but he lived because someone saved him. That person, he adopted the boy telling him he was a Hero, one who did his best to save people, a Hero of Justice I think was the term he used."

His father scowled slightly at that term, but nodded before motioning his son to continue, "Well, the boy begged him to teach him what he knew, and eventually, he did. But something was wrong with the old guy and he died…passing on his dream of being a Hero of Justice one who saves everyone without killing anyone to the boy he adopted. I guess that took some burden from him, because he died content, with a smile on his face."

"I see, and how old was the boy at this time, do you know?" Xanthus inquired of his son.

Jaune scratched his head with his free hand before saying, "I dunno, but if I had to guess, I'd say twelve or so? And the fire happened when he was the same age I am now." Jaune watched as his father took a deep breath in through his nose before letting it out through his mouth, blowing on his cup of coffee as he did so. _'So this man gives a child a nigh impossible legacy to live up to just so he can pass onto the next life easier? How cruel.'_ The elder of the two Arc men mused.

"Oi, Old Man, is something wrong, you look like you swallowed a lemon." Jaune asked concerned.

Xanthus shook his head, saying "No son, it's just that Hero of Justice can so many things. Personal Justice, settling of a vendetta, to take up the flag of a vigilante, world justice for human crimes against nature, which would lead to eco-terrorism. I wonder what kind of Hero of Justice the father meant for his son to become. Since he didn't clarify, how was the boy to know?"

Jaune blinked owlishly before saying, "Oh wow, I never-I never thought about it like that."

Father nodded to son, replying, "There is no one justice in this, or any world son. Each and every person has a reason for doing what they do. Pride, Honor, a dream or goal they will do anything to see fulfilled. It is when we see these justices conflict, that we get things like heroes and villains, victors and losers. Criminals and victims, and war. War most of all."

Another silence fell between the two once again. After a moment passed, Xanthus sighed and said, I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away there. Anyway, then what happened, did this boy get looked after by someone in the man's family?" He asked of his son.

Shaking his head, Jaune replied, "No, but a family friend more or less became his legal guardian…but from what I saw, she wasn't around much. But the boy didn't seem to mind he preferred it actually, as it allowed him to practice with his aura more often. For some reason, the use of Aura was kept secret from people in general in the dream."

Blinking in surprise, the elder looked astonished, "You mean a twelve-year-old child was left in a house, alone, with no supervision when who knows what could've happened to him while he messed around with Aura, something that, to this day, we do not fully understand?"

"Yep, and while he didn't mind being alone, to me, it sure seems lonely having a big place like that all to yourself. But he tried to master what little the old man taught him before he passed and…well, let's just say I don't think he did a very good job. Not that it's entirely his fault."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but like I said it wasn't all his fault. I think he was doing something wrong on accident. See, when I awakened my Semblance, I felt like I had several hot iron rods being pushed into my back. But it only happened one time. For him, he did this everytime he wanted to use his aura."

Jaune paused, taking a minute to organize his thoughts, "I think it was because of that, that all he did was fiddle around with junk and see what was wrong with it. What the old man taught him, it allowed him to see things in the form of a three-dimensional blueprint. Then, as he got older because he wanted to help people in any way possible, he became a tool that other people took advantage of. It was sad really, all he wanted was to help people but never even really noticed that the girl who kept coming around every day had a thing for him…or that she was, at the very least, being abused by her old brother."

That was a bit of a sore spot with Jaune. One that annoyed him even now. That someone who wanted to be a hero so badly, could fail to see someone so in need so completely. Still the guy had provided emotional support even if unknowingly, so that was something he supposed. A thick, tense silence fell between the only two Arc males was broken by the elder who said, " It sounds like you respect him a bit."

"It's kinda hard not to. He walks through a literal hell, puts himself through agonizing pain everyday just so he may be able to help people. But I don't agree with all of his decisions. Probably because I'm able to pick up on things he can't

"Understandable, you have family who've always done there best to hammer into you good from bad on top of that, you now have a couple of friends now if I'm not mistaken. He didn't. And that makes all the difference."

Jaune nodded, "I guess you have a point there. "

Xanthus chuckled and ruffled his son's hair "Of course I do, I'm your father. Then what happened?"

"Some kinda secret war started. Poor guy got stabbed in the chest right off the bat, as if his life wasn't bad enough already. But somehow, he didn't die. Then he went home, got attacked again by the same person and summoned a girl. She was like the guy that kept trying to kill him, strong, unbelievably so. She fought the guy off, then the girl a different one from earlier showed up and after using…something to prevent the girl he called forth from killing the girl and her friend, she explained how he had been dragged into something called the Holy Grail War. A combat tournament where the surviving team got one rule free wish."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, then she took him to the local church, and I guess the pastor or whatever oversaw monitoring things. He was an ass hat. Then they left and got attacked by what amounted to a nine-foot-tall testosterone fueled behemoth, with a body carved from granite, and all the intelligence of an enraged bull."

Jaune paused then, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "The girl, she used dust. It did nothing to the Black Giant but still…"

"Used Dust, how son?" Xanthus asked, leaning forwards in his chair intrigued.

Scratching his head in thought for a moment, "It was sort of like in the old Hunter tales, but in the reverse. As instead of empowering her aura with the Dusts element, she took a dust crystal and instead she empowered it with some of her Aura, then tossed it." Another pause, "From what I could tell it was…crude in execution at best. Think of it like an IDED."

"An Improvised Dust Explosive Device?"

"Yep, but anyway, that didn't do anything and the fight eventually moved to a cemetery and forest respectively. Then he, decided to rush in and try and help, even knowing he couldn't really do anything, and almost getting himself killed in the process. To be honest, I probably would've done the same thing...After coming up with some sort of plan. he almost gets himself blown up, I woke up and decided to come talk to you. Not because of the dream but the guy in them…I-he's a lot like me. But he's also different. Different in ways I respect, but also can't accept."

Nodding Xanthus silently prompted his son to continue which he did, but not before getting up and starting to pace back and forth like a caged animal. He did this for a time before he turned on his heel and said, "I can't deny it, I'm not even sure I want to try. The idea of wanting to save people isn't wrong, it's beautiful…it's worthy of respect, but he keeps…he keeps pushing people away. People who could help him, who would willingly fight beside him. He keeps pushing them away because he can't stand to see anyone hurt for his sake."

"Jaune? Son are you ok?"

His father's plea of concern went ignored as Jaune continued his pacing, running his fingers through his hair as he started to break out in a cold sweat, and continued his rant, "But he's so stubborn! He's so stubborn that he doesn't realize! He doesn't realize that not only are his actions hurting people who give a damn about him. But also, also he seems to think he needs to do everything by himself, because he doesn't want people getting hurt. Not even people who declared themselves his enemies. He doesn't realize that to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs; that sometimes, the world is better off without some people in it. But more than that, he failed to even entertain the idea of having people who shared his dream, as that would mean putting them in danger. But if he did."

Jaune began to sweat profusely, as he continued, and his father rose from his chair in an attempt, to make his son sit down, But the boy ignored him and finished, "Then he could've saved hundreds of thousands if he had people he trusted by his side, I-"

Jaune's words were cut off as he dropped like a led weight was his father struck him in the back of the neck knocking him unconscious before catching him with one arm and gently pressing a hand to his forehead with the other before pulling it back.

 _'He's burning up! What could be-'_ Xanthus cut himself off before rushing to the bathroom and filling the tub with cold water and dropping his son in, before calling for Sebastian to wake his wife before bringing all the ice he could to the bathroom near his study.

Minutes later, Leona showed up clad in a crimson silken nightgown asking sleepily, "Dear, what's going on?"

Upon seeing her only son lying unconscious in a tub of cold bathwater she snapped wide awake and demanded, "What are you doing to our son, Xanthus?"

"It's been so long; I'd forgotten about it. It happens sometimes when someone unlocks their aura before the age of thirteen, due to not being in puberty yet, their body just isn't ready to handle the sudden influx of power and-"

Leona cut him off by saying sharply, "Xan, what. Is. Happening. To. Our. Son?"

Sighing, the Arc patriarch explained, "I'm no doctor, but I think he's suffering from Acute Aura Poisoning. It's something that happens when one unlocks their aura before the body is strong enough to handle it. That's why Combat Schools don't accept applicants till their at least thirteen. By then, puberty starts and the influx of hormones allows the body to easily handle their growing aura."

Xanthus could practically see the lightbulb go off over his wife's head, "So that's why the practice of unlocking one's aura became a 'rite of passage'. Then after the Great War and founding of the Kingdoms, was strictly regulated to Combat School Instructors if it was to be done at all."

"Too much of a good thing." He agreed putting a comforting arm around his wife's' waist.

Looking down on her sons' sickly form the matriarch asked softly, "Will, he be ok?"

"I believe so, Madame."

Both turned to find Sebastian, Noir, Violette, and Indigo hulling a massive metal tub of ice into the bathroom.

Leona put her hands on her hips as she turned and faced her daughters, "Violette, Indigo, what are you two doing up?"

"We heard from Sebastian something was wrong with Jauney." Violette replied with a shrug, before adding, "And why isn't Noir getting the third degree?" Meanwhile, while her younger sister leaned in for a closer look.

"Is he alright, what's the matter with him?" Indigo asked worriedly.

"Noir is an adult with a job, you two have school in the morning, and Jaune should be fine, he's just feeling a little under the weather." Leona replied to both of her youngest children as they poured the tub of ice into the already frigid waters.

Their job complete, both Indigo and Noir gave the boy a once over. Noir from the point of view of a scientific genius, and Indigo; that of a budding medical professional.

"His pulse is erratic, eyes appear to be dilated," Noir noted, opening his eyelid to check his pupils.

"Temperature is high, skin clammy."

"His aura is spiking and shows no signs of slowing down now, could be the root of the problem." Indigo finished, using her Semblance, Advanced Aura Detection to check him for anything.

The two looked at each other, and Indigo asked, "Acute Aura Poisoning?"

Noir nodded, "I was thinking much the same. He should be fine though. I don't see any lesions or necrosis. He doesn't appear to be cooked from inside out. So, chances are he'll pull through just fine."

"Umm, what's Aura Poisoning, I thought Aura could only heal and protect us?" Violette asked.

Noir nodded, "Usually that is the case. However, sometimes, too much or too little of it can throw the body off. In the case of extremes in Aura, this can lead to Aura Poisoning where one has too much aura than the body can safely handle, causing the body to treat the access aura like a disease leading to something akin to an autoimmune disease causing lesions and necrosis to take place randomly throughout the body."

"Then you have Aura Withdrawal; where someone overuses their Semblance even after they've run out of aura and causes their metabolism to rise, increasing their internal temperature by overworking their Hypothalamus, and causing Hypothermia." Indigo finished causing Noir to nod in approval.

"Huh, can you say that again in plain Common Remnant please?" Violette asked.

Sighing, Indigo stated flatly causing the punk-goth to pale at the thought of either one happening to her little bro, "The first causes you to rot from the inside out, and the second makes you cook yourself alive."

"He'll be ok though, right?" Violette asked in a small voice filled with concern.

The others paid her slip from her tough as nails persona no mind, for they all knew deep down she cared immensely for each one of them. Jaune especially, as she taught him how to play guitar herself when he was but five. He took to it rather easily, likely due to being so young, and they whittled away many an afternoon as she taught him cords, notes, and then songs.

It was the same for most of the others as well. Ceil taught him how to cook, Noir helped him with his schoolwork, Colombe used him as a model for her designs (even making him try on girls' dresses), Rogue helped him train, and Indigo always patched him up with band aids afterwards, which led to her want to become an Aura Healer.

Jaune was the glue that held the family together. For though he was their youngest member, as he took an interest in all their hobbies and in some cases influenced them, he kept them closer knit than they would've been otherwise. So, if something were to happen to him…

Violette turned when she felt her father's hand land on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine, he's strong. He's an Arc after all. Now, I believe your mother wants you and Indigo off to bed as you do have school in a few hours." Seeing her about to protest, he added, "We'll be right here watching him, and you can see him again before you leave. Now go on, to bed, both of you."

Both girls gave their youngest sibling's chilling hand a comforting squeeze before being herded off to their rooms by Sebastian, as his parents and elder sister kept watch over his fitful sleeping form.

After a moment filled with worried silence, Noir spoke, "I thought Jaune and I discovered something new a week ago." Her parents turned to her curious as to where this line of conversation was going.

"I thought we had discovered a secondary nervous system in the soul itself. One that holds the Aura of a person itself. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd seen something like this before, so I started digging. Eventually I found what I was looking for… Back when Mountain Glen was being built, they came across some ruins that had paintings that had Erini words beneath them. These paintings consisted one person with roots across his body being touched by another induvial but his roots were glowing white. Then more the other person started to glow too."

 _'Babble, High-Glyph, Grekk, Romani, Erini, Kanata, and Eye-Ching. Collectively, they are known as the Lost Tongues.'_ Xanthus thought.

"You think that the ancient Erinians already knew about this 'soul nervous system'?"

"Could be, further on, images were found of people wielding lightning with dust-topped staves while an old man with one eye and two crows on his should drew strange runes in the air with his finger."

"What are you getting at dear?" Leona asked. Normally she would be more patient with her daughter, but it was late, and she was worried about her lone son.

Noir nodded in apology, "I was merely wondering, if the Erinians knew about this nervous system but then it was forgotten about…"

"Then how much have we forgotten?" Her father finished.

Noir nodded, turning her gaze back to her little brother, "Indeed. And there is an old saying…those who do not learn from their past, are doomed to repeat it. It is also said that doing the same thing over again, is the definition of madness."

They all fell silent after that each absorbed in their own thoughts.

* * *

As Jaune slept the night away in a cold bath, watched over by worried family members, he continued to dream.

 _It must've been the day after the fight with the Black Giant yet the boy was going to school, alone. Without his guardian._

 ** _'Again, he's doing something I don't really think is all that smart. I mean, he knows that girl is in this competition, Yet he comes here anyway without his Servant. That's like painting a target on his back. He's gonna get himself killed by that girl.'_** _Jaune predicted._ **_'She reminds me of Weiss, now that I think about it…weird…and scary as all hell.'_**

 _Just as he'd predicted, once school let out for the day, the Dust-using girl attacked him. She had him dead to rights, using some sort of…black projectile attack. She described it as a curse. Gandr. The word was foreign to him, but the effect was obvious. Black spheres raced down the hallway blowing holes the size of apples in the infrastructure of the building as the Hero raced down the hall, at one point, yelling back for her to be careful or someone could get hurt._

 ** _'Hero...the someone getting hurt is going to be you. She's TRYING to kill you. RUN!'_** _Jaune thought worriedly as he barricaded himself in a classroom,_ _ **'That might've a bad idea. I mean, what's stopping her from just throwing a dust crystal in there and blowing him to pieces?'**_

 _Just as he thought, the girl proceeded to bombard the room with black spheres, but not before she effectively sealed him into the room with some sort of force field. Something he referred to as a Bounded Field._

 ** _'Just another something to consider.'_** _Jaune thought as the Hero, Emiya the girl- Who was constantly referred to as Tohsaka-called him, to reinforce a desk using it as a makeshift shield to survive the barrage. Only for the girl -Rin- something told him, to chuck a dust crystal through a glass window in the door, covering the room in a powerful pale-blue light. Amazingly, he didn't die, and threw himself out of the now destroyed classroom armed with naught but a piece of metal enhanced by his aura._

 _She gave him three seconds to hand over his Command Sigils, before she took them by force. He refused. Then right when things were going to get intense, a scream was heard. The two immediately set aside what they were doing to find the cause, which happened to be a classmate of theirs passed out on the ground._

 _Emiya thought she was just passed out, but he could feel it. Somehow, her aura had been drained nearly dry, almost to the point of death. Tohsaka said as much before she tried to rejuvenate her aura using a dust crystal. Both he and Emiya saw it out of the corner of their eye. A serpentine blur moving towards Tohsaka's head. Jaune watched as Emiya did the only thing he could. He threw himself in front of the projectile, piercing his hand before materializing into a spiked chain that was forcefully yanked out of his arm and into the trees. Despite telling Tohsaka how much pain he was in, he ran off into the trees, regardless of the fact he was clearly outmatched, he charged heedlessly forwards to protect those behind him._

 ** _"Emiya, I respect you, and your ideal to a point. But you are wounded, outclassed in everyway, and have nothing but an enhanced piece of metal standing between you, and hero of legend! Please, Summon Saber you dolt!"_** _Jaune screamed to no avail._

 _For an existence, such as Emiya Shirou, the thought of putting another in danger for his sake never crossed his mind. Thus, Jaune Arc groaned as he went and actually **taunted** the purple-haired visored Servant who then proceeded to tie him up by his wounded arm. He would've died again right there if Tohsaka hadn't come to his aid. As she started dragging him off to her house to get him cleaned up, Jaune noticed a mop of purple hair fleeing the scene…_

 ** _"Matou you dirt bag."_**

 _The scene blurred then and when it stopped, both Emiya and Tohsaka were seemingly going to school the next day and seeing as they weren't trying to kill each other, they must've formed an alliance of some kind. But when they passed the gate to their school he felt sick. Like a giant snake was sizing him up, looking to swallow him whole. Emiya clutched his chest in fear, and Tohsaka had to shake him out of it, before dragging him to class. Later that day at lunch the two met on the roof, and Tohsaka explained that someone, likely the Servant from yesterday, had set up a Boundary Field that will turn everyone in it into pure prana once it's activated._

 **"Ok, ewe."**

 _The two proceeded to hunt down magical sigils. Well, Emiya did, he seemed to have a knack for sensing things according to Tohsaka, so he could easily hunt them down while she destroyed them. That night, he watched as Emiya was somehow dragged from his house to the local mountain temple, where a Servant, Caster, intended to take his Command Spells for herself. Only to be stopped by Archer. The two then proceeded to argue and bicker like children even as Caster tried to kill them both._

 ** _'Seriously you two, fight with each other 'after' you're not being attacked by a crazy woman. Now is not the time for this.'_** _Jaune deadpan thought to himself._

 _Then Archer went and got himself caught in frozen space by Caster. Jaune thought the guy was done for, only for Kanshou and Bakuya to attempt to cut her down from behind. She easily deflected them, but her loss of concentration freed Archer from his prison, which he used to leap out of the way of her retaliatory energy blast, spinning in the air while also summoning his bow made of carbon fiber nanotubes and ceramics as well a spiral shaped blade with a golden guard, and blue and silver hilt._

 ** _'Caladbolg.'_** _Jaune recognized the Spiraling Rainbow Sword of Fergus mac Róich the instant he laid eyes upon it._

 _As he landed, Archer took a knee and knocked the spiral sword and it lengthened and became more aerodynamic as he chanted the words,_ **_"I am the bone of my sword, Caladbolg II."_**

 _Jaune felt something in the depths of his very soul when he heard those words. They felt so right, but at the same time, so wrong to him. Like the pieces of a puzzle that didn't quite fit in that way. Even as a previously nonexistent wind whipped up from the power being built up in the Broken Phantasm he wondered,_ _ **'Those words, what do they mean, why do they sound so…familiar? And is that what I did the other night? Broke Hrunting, the Noble Phantasm of Beowulf of the Geats?'**_

 _The 'arrow' was then fired, tearing through Caster's paltry defense like a bullet through wet tissue paper, leaving a streak in the sky as the remnants of its power streaked off into the night, leaving a burnt and charred Caster in a smoldering crater she landed in. When she asked him why he didn't finish her, Archer replied he said he would 'Leave one scratch, and that he disliked unnecessary violence'. When Caster pointed out how similar the two were after healing herself, causing them to bicker once again, Jaune began to wonder._

 ** _'She's right, those two are a lot alike…in a weird way too.'_**

 _The scene suddenly shifted to that of Shirou stumbling down the Temple steps into the arms of his waiting Servant who had up until then been fighting a man wielding a long single-edged katana._

 ** _'Monohoshi Zao, sword of Kojirou Sasaki, special ability Tsubame Gaeshi, consisting of three simultaneous slashes that happen in the exact same instant.'_** _Jaune noted instantly._

 _Jaune noted he had a large long gash on his back, likely curtesy of one Servant of the Bow. As if his thoughts had summoned him with a Command Spell, Archer appeared on the steps, Married Twin Swords in hand, intent on killing the boy he had just recently been protecting._

 ** _"And the award for most bi-polar Servant goes to… drumroll please…Archer! Seriously man, what did Emiya ever do to you? He's walked through a ranging inferno, and been stabbed twice within the past two days. Hasn't he had it bad enough within the past few days? Leave him alone._**

 _Much to his surprise however, Assassin stepped in saying it was his right to decide who lived and died on these stairs as well as who got to pass on to the Temple above. Saber used the distraction provided by Archer and Assassin engaging in combat to pull Shirou away even as he watched the two clash blades at a speed he could hardly perceive._

 _When Emiya awoke next, he was back at his home, in his room. A place where he admittedly didn't spend much time. To Jaune it looked more like a guest room than a room for somebody who lived there, as it was entirely bare. No paint on the walls, no posters, nothing that would indicate this room belonged to the person known as Shirou Emiya._

 ** _'He should decorate a little bit, put pictures of superheroes up or something. After all, that's what he want's to be right?'_** _Jaune thought to himself as Emiya made his way out to the living room where he found Tohsaka cooking in his kitchen…causing him to have a near aneurysm at the sight._

 **'Seriously.'** _Jaune thought upon seeing his reaction as he watched the two bicker for a moment before Rin gave him a dressing down for having a healing magecraft and keeping it a secret from her. Only for Emiya to admit he had no such magecraft. Which led the duo to wonder just how he healed so rapidly only for their conversation to abruptly cease when Shirou's mooch of a landlord, Taiga Fujimura came in through the front door, roaring about food._

 _Sometime later, Emiya and Tohsaka were out on the porch talking. She told him she used a Command Seal to prevent Archer from attacking him again and they talked about their upbringings. Mostly how Shirou was unfairly raised as a child by his father while Rin was raised as the Heir to the Tohsaka magecraft, and while Jaune sympathized to a point, he was mostly crept out due to his age._ **_Cooties, cooties, Emiya, who aren't family or friends have cooties! Is there any way I can fast forward through all this? It's making my skin crawl.'_** _He wondered._

 _In answer to his heartfelt plea, a blur of motion took place skipping their conversation and going forwards to the next day._ **_'Holy shit, thank you Monty, I really can fast forward through all this boring crap! Hallelujah!'_**

 _He quickly made note that Emiya and Tohsaka were now on a first name basis and on the roof of the school again, when all hell broke loose. Red beams of lightning shot forth from all over the school converging in the sky in the shape of an eye while a crimson dome fell across the entire campus. The two rushed into the school, having deduced that Shinji is the most likely to be the one behind this, only to be waylaid by monstrous soldiers made of bone._

 _They quickly surrounded the two, causing Emiya to use a Command Seal to summon Saber. She cut through the familiars like a hot knife through butter. Then, while she took care of the bulk of the horde, the two magi sought to hunt down Shinji, and do what they could for their fellow students. Yet as quickly as it came, the bounded field dispersed. They soon figured out the reason why. They found Rider, her body pressed into a crater in one of the classrooms and her neck bent at an odd angle, clearly broken. The two watched from the windows as Shinji fled full tilt in the direction of the Church, waiting for the paramedics to arrive to hull off all their incapacitated classmates. After they did so, they talked about how Rider died, Saber spoke about how she died honorably, defending her master, while Archer toted her as a weakling._

 ** _'Eh, I'd say she was a pain in the arse more than anything. I mean, she was forced to protect someone like Shinji Matou, first of all, and then tried to kill everyone else in the school. Likely on the sniveling little worm's orders just so he can feel important.'_** Jaune thought to himself.

 _He 'fast forwarded' events again, to the next day at school where the two were attempting to find the master of Caster, assuming it couldn't be just anyone. They were however, unsuccessful, as their only suspect Issei Ryuudou lacked any Command Seals. Emiya then, by sheer accident finds out that one of their teacher's Souichirou Kuzuki also lives at Ryuudou Temple, and that he has recently engaged to be married._

 ** _"DEFCON THREE! I repeat, we are now entering a DEFCON THREE situation here, Emiya! Is this thing even on?"_** _Jaune was all but shouting to the dense auburn-haired teen._

 _Later that night, they attempted to find out if their teacher was Caster's Master or not by having Rin shoot him with one of her Gandr shots._

 ** _"Umm, can't she blow holes in concrete with those things? Is it really a good idea to be shooting someone with them in the back of the head on the off chance he MIGHT be a Master to a Servant? Cause if he's not, they'll have killed an innocent man for no reason, and then they'll need to hide a body."_**

 _His fears were unfounded however and their suspicions proven correct when the Finn shot was absorbed harmlessly by a bounded field set around his person. Then Caster herself appeared telling 'Souichirou-sama' that staying at the school was a bad idea, that he was safer on the mountain within the protection of both her and the natural bounded fields there. Battle soon commenced between the Servants of the Sword and Spell._

 _Caster fired salvo after salvo of magical spell only for Saber to barrel through them like they weren't even there thanks to her natural magic resistance. Saber charged in for the kill, only for her strike to be blocked by between Kuzuki's leg and elbow of all things. Before he threw a punch, which seemed to swerve and still connect with the back of Saber's head which turned into a strangling grip around her throat before dodging an attempt to take off his arm by the Servant only to punch her clean through a bus stop and turning his attention to Tohsaka and Emiya._

 ** _"Holy shit, this guy…he fights like dad."_** _Jaune revised his opinion after a moment._ **_"No, dad is better. He would've turned that whiffed swing into an elbow strike, then a backhand punch, before he would've finished her off with a double axe kick to the head."_**

 _Jaune was so busy analyzing Kuzuki's style compared to his father's he almost missed the fight happening right before his eyes._

 _The Tohsaka Magus proceeded to fire Finn shot after Finn Shot at the man only to miss horribly,_ **_-"Aim Tohsaka!"_** \- _He then took her out with a single swift punch to the gut, sending her crashing into a wrought iron railing. Screaming her name like some valiant idiotic knight, Emiya charged in with his metal rod, which his teacher destroyed in one punch before slamming his fist home in the boy's gut._

 ** _"I can't die here. If I do, Tohsaka's finished. I need a strong weapon, a powerful weapon, one that will let me fight."_**

 ** _"Umm, not that the speech wasn't cool and all, but I'm kinda wondering Why the hell hasn't Kuzuki didn't kill you while you stand there and monologue."_** _Jaune wondered even as he imagined Archer's twin short swords Kanshou and Bakuya._

 _"Weapons like his…Trace, On!"_

 _Miniature magic circles appeared in his palms milliseconds before lightning gathered in his hands and proceeded to take shape. Kuzuki rushed in, intent on finishing the fight, but it was too late for that. As by the time he struck, the Married Twin Swords had already formed and clashed with his magic enhanced fists in a flurry of strikes. Went the two finally broke off, Kuzuki's hands were bloody despite the reinforcement done by Caster, and Emiya was holding two undamaged projections of Kanshou and Bakuya._

 _It was then that Saber dashed forwards intending to cut down Caster's Master, only to be stopped by the Witch herself, who took to the skies with her master in her arms. Tohsaka then, strangely questions Emiya on his use of projection magic. Citing it odd that he'd learned to used that before Reinforcement._

 _All Jaune could wonder was,_ _ **"Where in the Hell was Archer? If he'd been providing fire support, this fight wouldn't have even been a fight. He must've had a clear shot. So why didn't he take it?"**_

 _The scene then moved to the next day, and Jaune could not believe what he was seeing._ _ **"A date? You just found out one of your teacher's is a Master in the Grail War, that he has no problem killing his students, or allowing his Servant to suck the general populace dry, and you're going on a date!? The hell is wrong with you people?!"**_

 _But yes, that's what was happening right now. Rin Tohsaka was dragging both Shirou and his Servant around the ritzier part of town. First to a tea shop, then the batting cages, and ending with a picnic on a hill, in which Saber devoured most of the food while the two magi conversed. It seemed like a perfectly ordinary day between friends…that all changed on the bus-ride home._

 _The trio found themselves caught in a bounded field on the bridge connecting the two cities, a trap laid by Caster. She gave Emiya a choice, while holding up the unconscious body of his teacher guardian, and friend Taiga Fujimura:_

 _Surrender his command Seals to her, or Taiga will die._

 ** _"Don't do it."_**

 _Emiya stepped forwards._

 ** _"Don't do it Emiya!"_**

 _He raised his arm._

 ** _"She's playing you! You know she's evil. I mean, I get you wanna save Taiga, I get that, but think about the long term consequences here. If you give her Saber, what's to stop her from killing you, and everybody else afterward?"_** _The Witch smiled in victory as she descended, only for the Servant of the Sword to charge her, only for Emiya to cry out as she closed in as she severed the magical bonds holding Fujimura captive and inadvertently causing her to stop right in front of Caster, giving the Witch of Betrayal just the right window to use her Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker. A mystical dagger that allowed it to nullify any form of magical contract and transfer it under her control. The twisted, jagged, brittle, and bloodstained blade descended towards Saber's chest plate…_

 _One flash of malevolent dark red energy later, and it was done. Saber was now Casters to command. She then tossed Fujimura towards the ground contemptuously before using a Command Seal to force Saber to kill her former charges. She dashed forwards and stabbed Emiya through his shoulder, and she just managed to avoid cutting both Emiya and Tohsaka down in one slash when a hail of crimson arrows burst through the bounded field._

 ** _"About damn time, where the hell were you, Archer?!"_** _Of course, Jaune received no answer, as he could be neither seen nor heard. He could only watch and comment to no one as these events unfolded…_

 _Emiya awoke alone in the Tohsaka Estate, weakly he attempted to stand and only managed to knock over a small table filled with gems…one of which held the very same crimson jewel which was used to save his life._

 ** _"Oh, so that means Tohsaka, she…wow."_**

 _Emiya seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he slowly and painfully made his way out of the mansion, towards the higher end side of town, and onto the roof of the tallest building around where both Tohsaka and Archer awaited. She told him he should be resting, that he should seek asylum in the church, that she would now carry on alone with just archer by her side…and as she left, she said one more last thing before heading off into the night,_ _ **"If you continue as you are now, you'll die."**_

 ** _"Seriously Tohsaka, you should know by now that being a hard ass isn't going to work on Emiya of all people, he cares too much. You get an A for effort though."_**

 _As he predicted, when both Rin and Archer went to confront Caster at the church where they had established their new base of operations, he was there, waiting in the wings. When Archer betrayed Tohsaka, he locked eyes with Emiya for just a moment, right before the Witch plunged her dagger into his chest, nullifying his contract, and replacing it with her own. As Kuzuki moved in to finish Rin off, Emiya rushed into the fray, swinging away with a reinforced piece of metal._

 ** _"Why don't you just use Kanshou and Bakuya? I mean, you know it works, right?"_**

 _As if the Auburn-haired third-rate magus could hear his thoughts, he did just that; bringing the Married Twin Swords to the fore as battled with Kuzuki once again. This time, he lost against his former teacher who won their bout as Kanshou and Bakuya began to fade in the boy's hands. They were only allowed to live, much less flee due to Archer's intervention. Stating their lives were the cost of his compliance. Surprisingly, the Witch agreed, allowing them to flee. Before she left, Tohsaka promised her Servant she would never forgive him, no matter how much he begged her in the future._

 _Later that night, Emiya finally confessed to Tohsaka how he felt, earning him a very Weiss-like reaction. She called him stupid one minute then softly clasped his hand the next while blushing…_

 ** _"Ok seriously there has got to be a name for the kind of condition Rin and Weiss have. Mood swings like that just can't be natural."_**

 _The next day, the two Masters' now Servant-less, decided to go and seek help from the one Master they knew still possessed a Servant. Illyasviel von Einzbern and her Black Giant, Hercules. Yet by the time they arrived, they found the Black Giant already locked in heated combat with an unknown foe. He was tall, had messy blonde hair, with crimson red eyes, and he was wearing high-end if simple black and white clothing. Whoever he was, he practically oozed ego and arrogance of the highest order._

 ** _"Ok, just who the hell is this guy? He can't, or at least, shouldn't be a Servant. There are only supposed to be seven, but…"_**

 _Yet, Jaune was forced to rethink his position on the matter as Herakles was impaled by legendary weapon after legendary weapon, all of which came out of golden portals that rippled in space like a disturbed pond. Time and time again, dying over and over all for the sake of the little girl that was his Master, eventually being bound in chains that could even hold a God as she was first blinded, then impaled through the stomach. Yet still, she believed in him. Granting him the strength to break his seemingly unbreakable bindings and lunge at his Master's killer…only to be brought low by several weapons._

 _But the blood-eyed demon of a man was not yet finished. For as she lay there dying, he plunged his fist into her back, and wrenched out her heart._

 _This caused Emiya to leap up from cover and shout, even as Tohsaka pulled him away that…monster for it did not deserve to be called a man, fired a blade after them. Yet he didn't seem to bother coming after them, as they managed to escape the ruined castle unharmed. Their last hope all but dashed, they didn't know what to do. So, it came as a surprise to them both when Lancer of all people appeared out of the blue and offered his assistance on behalf of his hidden Master._

 _With a Servant now more or less on their side for the moment a plan of attack was easily created. While Lancer held off Archer, Rin and Shirou would handle Caster and Kuzuki, freeing Saber and allowing one of them to contract with her again in the process. As the trio approached the Church, Archer appeared from astral form. Leaving the Servants of the Bow and Lance to have their long-awaited rematch, the two headed inside to confront Caster._

 _As Emiya fought hand to blade with Kuzuki, Tohsaka engaged Caster in a duel of magic, which ended when she struck Caster down not with magecraft, but with martial-arts. Yet Kuzuki dashed to his servant's defense, citing Tohsaka's inability to land a decisive blow in three hits or less as a mark of inexperience on her part. Yet, before he could strike out at her, a voice spoke._

 _"Such a shame, if you were just a bit faster…Trace, on."_

 ** _"Wait a minute, Trace on? That's…that means, oh, oh no way. I mean their similar but."_**

 _A plethora of common blades flew and Caster somehow managed to superimpose herself between her master and the surprise attack, being impaled several times in the back in the process. After she faded away, Archer appeared admitting to becoming a 'Trojan Horse' and his intention to destroy Caster's faction from within. He then quickly disposed of Kuzuki when he refused to back down from the fight._

 _Now that both Caster and her Master were dealt with, he declared his true objective. To kill Emiya Shirou. Only a weakened Saber stood in his way of fulfilling his goal. The two clashed, and it looked Archer had the upper hand. That all changed when Rin forged a new Master-Servant Contract between herself and Saber, restoring the Servant of the Swords mana and stats above and beyond what they were previously._

 _Thus, Archer was forced to unveil his own trump card. He began chanting._

 **"I am the bone of my sword.**

 **Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.**

 **I have created over a thousand blades.**

 **Unknown to Life, Nor known to Death,**

 **Withstood pain to create many weapons,**

 **But these hands will never hold anything,**

 **So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"**

 _It was_ _ **wrong.**_ _All of it was felt so wrong to Jaune on so many levels! Just about every word that fell from Archer's lips as he chanted was outright rejected. Not just on a psychological level, but also on an emotional and spiritual one as well. For Archer's chant, it spoke of loss, suffering, and an inability to protect a single thing he held dear. This was something Jaune Arc refused to accept. He knew full well he couldn't save everyone, as he was not a god. But to fail to protect even a single thing? To fail so utterly and yet still be able to call oneself a Heroic Spirit? No. Jaune Arc knew then that he could never accept Archer, even as he could not accept all of the choices of made by Emiya Shirou. Even though he too, refused to abandoned the idea that saving people was wrong..._

 ** _'If they are two sides of the same coin, then I am the edge.'_** _The blonde thought to himself as heatless flames spread, obscuring his vision before planting him, and all around him, in a very familiar, but vastly different landscape._

 _It was the hill of swords but it was such a different desolate place now. Gone was the caramel color sunset sky and the tan earth. Both were replaced by scorched ground from which smog incessantly rose, clouding over the sky as massive gears of wrought iron slowly turned in the background. Swords, axes, spears, and armor of all kinds lay scattered around in unceremonious heaps. Everywhere he looked he saw hundreds if not thousands of blades and armaments littering the landscape, and with everyone he took in, more blades were added to his own stockpile. So engrossed in the seemingly endless scores of blades that he almost missed what Tohsaka said in her shock._

 _"Reality Marble, a magecraft bordering on True Magic. It replaces the outer world with that of the users' internal world."_

 **"So that's what the hill really is…my inner world**. **But then, why doesn't it feel like it's truly mine?"**

 _As he pondered this question Archer told the others how at his core, he was neither a swordsman nor an archer, but a magus, and how as a Heroic Spirit, he wielded neither a Demonic nor Holy Sword. But, if a Noble Phantasm is a symbol of a Heroic Spirit, then this place, was his symbol. He then offered to replicate Saber's holy sword, knowing it would cost him everything while also killing the two masters behind her._

 _Yet instead he fired blade after blade at the Servant of the Sword, but it was not Saber who deflected the blades, but Emiya. He rushed forward with a battle cry tracing two of the blades even as they flew at him and he knocked them out of the sky, breaking his copies in the process. Both traced more copies of the same weapon, one shot them forth, while the other charged forward once again only for the world as they knew it to suddenly blink out of existence. Then before anyone can react, Archer had Tohsaka tucked under his arm._

 _He told them to come to the Einzbern Castle tomorrow so they could finish things, and that he was taking Rin to ensure Saber didn't interfere. He then disappeared in a burst of speed. Leaving the former Master and Servant alone for the night._

 _It was a night filled with a tense silence between former master and Servant. For both knew a confrontation was inevitable. Shirou knew he couldn't abide the existence known as Archer, whereas Saber knew no matter what happened, the existence known as Shirou Emiya would die tomorrow, no matter who won, meaning there would be no winner in truth._

 _Come dawn the next day, the duo set out to the ruins of Einzbern Castle. When they arrived, Archer stood waiting at the top of the ruined stairs. When they arrived, Saber questioned his motives, as if Archer was truly Emiya Shirou from the future, then he should embody his ideals, not be rejecting them outright. The Knight Class of the Bow laughed discursively, before replying that he followed Emiya Shirou's ideals to the very bitter end._

 _He spoke then, of training in what little he had after the Grail War, of losing Illya, which pushed him to train even harder so he wouldn't have to feel so useless losing anyone else like that. How in the beginning, he tried to save everyone on either side of any conflict he came across becoming hated and hunted by both sides. Eventually he was forced to choose. To pick a side and protect his 'allies' while simultaneously slaying his 'enemies'._

 _"That isn't what I wanted! I wanted to save everyone!" EMIYA barely raised his voice, but he got the point across even as he continued, "But I kept killing and with every kill I felt as if I tarnished my ideals a little more, even as I saved more people than I killed. After all, I wanted to be a hero that saves everyone. Isn't that right, Emiya Shirou?"_

 _Shirou didn't answer, he just continued to glare silently at the figure at the top of the ruined stair. But Jaune could tell he was feeling angry. The glare he was shooting at his future seemingly opposite self, made this blatantly clear._

 _The Heroic Spirit ignored him and continued slowly descending the stair, "So I kept on picking sides, knowing I'd have to kill and hating it. Then one day, I'd had enough, I made a deal with the World to become a Guardian after death in return for bringing back to life less than one-hundred people that had died in front of me."_

 _At the halfway point, he paused and continued, "I was betrayed by one of the people I'd saved, and blamed for the conflict in its entirety. But I didn't care. In fact, I happily went to my death thinking that now, as a Guardian, that surely I can live up to my ideals and protect everyone."_

 _A fevered mad gleam entered the Servant of the Bows eyes then, and he stared down his younger self like a predator does prey as he finished his descent, talking as he did so, "I was wrong. I'd never been more wrong about anything in my entire life. For you see, Guardians save no one. The only time a Guardian is called is when Humanity is close to wiping themselves out in a given location. Men, women, children, it didn't matter. I saved millions by killing thousands, and billions by slaying millions. It is hell like you can't comprehend. Yet I persevered, because I held onto a single hope, no greater than a grain of sand…that I could one day be summoned to the Fifth Grail War, and use the opportunity to create a paradox." He stopped at the bottom of the steps. Now staring down his younger self, he finished, "By having Emiya Shirou who became a Guardian, kill Emiya Shirou before he made a pact with the World to become a Guardian, which would create a paradox strong enough to wipe myself from existence."_

 ** _"Archer, you're an idiot."_**

 _The younger of the two Emiya's thought much the same but he had a bit more to say on the matter. "I refuse to accept that. Even if you are the culmination of my ideals, then I will just destroy that future and create a better one! I refuse to be lectured by someone who gave up on his ideals!"_

 ** _"You tell him Emiya! It's not wrong to help people...but Oum do I wish you'd think before you act."_**

 _Archer let out something between a chuckle, sigh and a huff, before he walked forward until he stood only a few scant meters from his younger self. "If you don't understand by now what following these ideals to the end will get you…Then there is nothing left for us to talk about."_

 ** _"Ding, ding. Class is session and someone hopefully Archer is about to get schooled."_**

 _The two stared each other down then, their signature weapons in hand, the colors opposing one another just as much as their owners. A gentle breeze blew through the ruined foyer kicking up a small cloud of dust…as if that were some unseen signal the two charged one another. Their opposing beliefs clashed just as hard as their blades, when they met with a clang of steel. Yet it was plain to see after three strikes just who the superior Faker was of the two of them._

 _For after Emiya's blades shattered like glass into motes of light, while Archer's own weapons hand nary a scratch on them. Emiya was undeterred however and merely called forth more blades and charged in once again. For the second time, his blades shattered like glass, and for the third time, he rose, only to be stopped by Archer who told him it was pointless. That at his current level, he could only Trace Kanshou and Bakuya six more times before he completely runs out of aura._ _Once again Jaune couldn't help but admire and respect the boy's will and tenacity. For though he was losing he failed to quit. Though he knew he couldn't win, he refused to lose._

 _Despite that Emiya charged in once again, and Archer called forth Unlimited Blade Works in response. As Emiya charged up the hill, choking on the smog in the air, he had visions, and Jaune saw them as well._

 _Archer going to the Clock tower with Rin for a time, before moving on, pushing himself above and beyond his limits causing his skin to slowly darken, his hair to whiten, his eyes to change hue, and for him to grow in height. Joining the Executors as their eighth member and being granted a holy shroud by his sensei Yumi. He fought and won against things no normal humans had a chance against. Vampires, Dead Apostle Ancestors, and Elementals. Not once did he retreat until he came across some sort of tangible shadow-like creature and was forced to withdrawal._

 _Upon tasting defeat, he distanced himself from magical conflicts, involved himself in more mundane ones. Conflict after conflict, war after war, not even once being understood by the very people he was trying to save, all the while slowly tarnishing the ideals he held so dear, until he beseeched the World for a Miracle. It was granted, and shortly after that, he died, hated by the very people he was trying to protect. Unless Jaune was mistaken, he was around forty-five or so._

 _The fight continued after that, blades slashed into Emiya's flesh as he futilely tried to match a Heroic Spirit who had more experience, power and skill than he did. His senses began to blur, but he continued to rush forth even with his blades shattered._

 _Archer dismissed his Reality Marble and took Caladbolg in hand preparing to finish his younger self with a single slash through the heart…only for it to be blocked at the sacrifice of Kanshou, before Bakuya swung in and cleaved into the Spiral Rainbow Sword, shattering them both._

 _Surprised, Archer traced Durandal, the invincible holy sword of the knight Roland and attempted to take his head off, only for the boy to block it with another pair of the married twin swords._

 ** _"Wait, shouldn't Emiya be out of Aura by now, according to Archer? But he just keeps going…I shouldn't expect anything less"_**

 _As he watched, the married twin swords broke once, twice, three times upon Durandal and yet, Emiya showed no signs of ceasing his Projections anytime soon. Seeing he could not break him from without, Archer tried a different tactic. He attempted to shatter his resolve, to break him from within._

 _"You and I both know the truth. That you are a hollow human being Emiya Shirou. That your ideals were only taken up from Emiya Kiritsugu because you saw that look of joy on his face when he saved you and wanted others to look at you the same way!_

 _"Who cares?! It isn't…it isn't…I KNOW, REGARDLESS OF THE REASON, THAT IT ISN'T WRONG TO WANT TO SAVE PEOPLE! I can lose against someone else, against anyone else, but I refuse to be beaten by myself!" Emiya cried out before lunging at Archer with Kanshou, Bakuya having been broken deflecting the last strike from Durandal shattering it in the process._

 ** _"Hell yeah! Finish him Emiya!"_**

 _Archer quickly traced his own pair of the black and white falchions, and raised the white one to cut the boy down, but he paused. The look in his eyes, the conviction, and the will he possessed regardless of how badly his body was broken and battered. This was who he used to be, before he let go of his ideals?_

 _He was distracted just long enough for Shirou to stab him with his blade._

 _"It's my win…Archer." Emiya huffed as he leaned against his blade._

 _"Yeah, I lost." Archer confirmed, not sounding at all bitter._

 ** _"Archer lost, but he looks content happy even? Maybe Emiya proved something to him. I guess being stubborn has it's place after all."_**

 _Suddenly, the scent of smoke filled the air and Tohsaka appeared, shouting for both her boyfriend and former Servant. But before anyone could do anything. A haughty voice called from the top of the stairs, "Die Fakers."_

 _Immediately, Archer pushed Emiya out of the way of an incoming barrage of blades and spears but not before pinning his hopes and dreams on him, and giving him one final piece of advice. "Only you can beat him…should the weapon in hand prove insufficient to defeat your foe, then imagine what can."_

 _The Unknown, whom Saber identified as the Archer from the last Grail War, Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, who proceeded to explain that the Grail was tainted with all the Evils of the World, and how he intended to use it to wipe out humanity and rule over those that survived. He continued to smirk like a cat that ate a canary even as the castle began to crumble around them, allowing them to escape._

 _That night, the three came up with a plan for dealing with both Gilgamesh and the tainted Grail. Saber would deal with the Grail via Excalibur while Emiya and she would deal with the Gilgamesh. But in order to do that, Emiya needed enough prana to manifest his own version of Unlimited Blade Works. Something he currently couldn't do. But Rin had a solution, she would make him her familiar thus allowing him access to her prana pool long with Saber. The way they went about accomplishing this?_

 ** _"Oh sweet Oum, my eyes! It's like a train wreck, I wanna look away, but I can't!"_**

 _The two had sex. Mentally scarring an eight-year-old in the process, even if he was one who was already 'in the know' about how such things happened witnessing it first hand was not something he wanted. In fact, Jaune felt…dirty now. Like he was some creep who willingly looked in on something that should've remained a private memory between two people._

 _But then later that night, they made their way towards Ryuudou Temple intent on ending the Grail War once and for all. While Saber headed up the Temple Steps, the two magi approached the Grail itself. It was a massive tower of flesh surrounded by a lake of liquefied curses targeted against the World, or more specifically humanity. Up in the sky a black void floated, spewing out even more ichor even as they watched in morbid fascination._

 _Emiya noticed Shinji stuck in the mountain of flesh. Just as Rin prepared to go and retrieve him, Gilgamesh appeared. Refusing to allow a 'mongrel' like her to ruin his plans, he fired one of his many treasures at her. Then, Shirou stepped in to confront the King of Heroes._

 ** _"Bring you A-game Emiya, your gonna need it against this walking piece of ego personified."_**

 _He fared poorly at first, as Gilgamesh merely toyed with him flinging the occasional blade his way while he tried desperately to deflect it with Kanshou and Bakuya. Yet he couldn't keep up and he knew it. So, he tried something crazy in his mind. As Gilgamesh summoned weapons from his armory, he made copies of them and flung them right back at him. It worked as it deflected the many legendary weapons sent his way._

 ** _"That's more like it, give as good as you get."_**

 _But then something happened._

 _A gigantic white arm appeared and attempted to grab the King of Heroes. Only for him to pull a cylindrical object from within his Gate. The moment he laid eyes on it, Jaune felt as if he'd just tried to swallow an iceberg._

 ** _"Gah, brain freeze! What-what the hell is that thing?! It makes me feel like I swallowed a banana split in one go."_**

 _Then, Gilgamesh spoke to it. Telling 'Ea' to 'wake up.'_

 _The weapon, sword? Whatever it was, glowed with crimson cuneiform before a grinding was heard as its tops ground against one another one moving clockwise, the middle counter clockwise and the top clockwise again before it unleashed a blast of rose-hued energy, destroying the arm that dared reach out for him._

 _Gilgamesh was surprised to find Emiya still alive, having survived Ea's attack. For his part, the Magus knew he couldn't wait any longer and so, he began his own personal aria._

 **"My body is made out of swords.**

 **My blood is of iron and my heart of glass.**

 **I have overcome countless battlefields.**

 **Not even once retreating,**

 **Not even once being victorious.**

 **The bearer lies here alone, forging iron in a hill of swords.**

 **Thus, my life needs no meaning.**

 **So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"**

 _Jaune had to admit he liked Emiya's chant much more than Archer's but he still disagreed with its meaning. Standing alone, fighting, alone, not running away but never truly winning, and yet, your life needs no meaning? Without having something to fight for, what's the point then?_

 ** _"What are you fight for, Emiya Shirou?"_** _Jaune asked himself as the reality marble which looked exactly like the Hill he had seen in his own dreams, appeared._

 _Then the true battle began. A tidal wave of blades appeared quicker here than the Gate of Babylon could produce them, allowing Emiya to match and exceed Gilgamesh. The King of Heroes attempted to draw out Ea, only for the Faker to slice off his hand, taking the blade with it._

 ** _"That was awesome, a mere human went from getting his butt kicked and not even doing magic right, to fighting on par with something akin to God in two weeks. You really are something Emiya. I may not agree with you on everything. But I can't deny the results when there right here in front of my eyes. Now lay this guy to rest and go see your...uh...girlfriend."_**

 _Then, right when he was going to finish him off…he ran out of aura._

 ** _"Well, that's just some horrible timing right there."_** _Jaune said to himself his voice flat._

 _Gilgamesh prepared to deal the finish blow to the spent magi, only for a black hole to appear from the stump of his arm attempting to suck him into its depths. Gilgamesh latched onto Emiya with Enkidu the Golden Chain he used to bind the Gods and Herakles, demanding he stay right there while he pull himself up. Only for Emiya to say he'd sooner throw himself into the vortex than help him._

 _Then, Jaune heard a voice he never thought he'd hear again._ **_"Archer, you glorious bastard! You're alive! Thank goodness you stopped Emiya from doing something crazy."_**

 _"Far be for me to stop you from doing something stupid, but if you don't want to jump, then if you could at least not move, that would be great."_

 _Suddenly the black shaft of an arrow sprouted from in-between Gilgamesh's' eyes. Killing him and making him fall backwards into the void. By the time Emiya arrived where Tohsaka and Archer were located, Archer was fading away, a genuine smile on his face._

 _Together, they watched Saber destroy the Grail wishing her well before she faded away._

 _Time fast forwarded a lot after that. It showed the two going off to the Mages Association in England together, for a time. Then it showed Rin traveling with him as he attempted to save as many people as he could, clinging to his ideals. There were a few scenes of him seemingly 'involved' with other women, with an exhausted Tohsaka looking on, sullenly._

 _"Wait, why's he sleeping with other women? Does he need more aura than Tohsaka can provide at the moment? That must be it, there can be no other reason for her to allow something like that to happen. Right in front of her no less."_

 _Then came the day of his death._

 _A ritual to bring back the First Vampire Brunestud of the Crimson Moon was being attempted. Shirou was contacted by a couple of friends he had made in the Church, Crown and Yumi, in the hopes that he would assist them. He said yes, of course. The Church, along with the Canticle Brigade, a special group from the Mage's Association all fought against the worst the World had to offer. Merem Solomon, a Dead Apostle Ancestor who worked for the church and went by the name of Crown, lost his life against one of Altrouge Brunestud's guardians, his friend and enemy Gransurg Blackmore doing the same, while the Canticle Brigade led by Lorelei Barthomeloi herself were contending with Trhvmn Ortenrosse and his posse, while Arcueid dealt with her sister personally._

 _Leaving the Great White Dog, the Beast of Gaia, Primate Murder, to him alone. He immediately unleashed Unlimited Blade Works the moment the crimson eyes of the Beast locked onto his own. Here, in this place, Jaune felt Emiya had a chance, however slim. For here, Gaia had no dominion. For this was Emiya's world, and it played by his rules. Beast and Man, Predator and Prey, stared each other down. Neither flinched or gave an inch._

 _Primate Murder cocked its head to the side in confusion before sniffing the air. After which, he let out a howl that shook the false world to its foundation, before charging in. Emiya threw everything he could at the beast, and for the most part, the numerous blades in his possession simply bounced off its fur, a few higher level Noble Phantasms found purchase in its flesh however causing it to yelp in pain. Seeing his death, and with it, failure to protect people who were depending on him, charging towards him, Emiya searched for something anything that could stop Primate Murder._

 _Surprisingly it was not a weapon in his armory that came to him, but words of advice, half-forgotten, and whispered long ago, that gave him what he needed._ _"If you cannot defeat your enemy with the weapon you have, then imagine what can."_

 _Archer's parting words before he left him to fight Gilgamesh sprang back into Emiya's mind and with it, a chance of victory._

 ** _"Judging the concept of creation."_**

 _He needed a blade capable of slaying Gaia's Beast. An Anti-Gaia weapon._

 ** _"Hypothesizing the basic structure."_**

 _He required both heft and reach, a Great sword would be ideal for this task._

 ** _"Duplicating the composition material."_**

 _High carbon steel dipped in silver with simple leather wrap seems appropriate._

 ** _"Imitating the skill of its making."_**

 _Only high level Noble Phantasms can even wound it; I would need to imitate the making of Balmung to even have a chance._

 ** _"Sympathizing with the experience of its growth."_**

 _I need enough skill with a great sword to cut down a wolf-like beast. Siegfried don't fail me now, please._

 ** _"Reproducing the accumulated years."_**

 _Balmung is at least one thousand years old or so._

 ** _"Excelling every manufacturing process."_**

 _It's a perfect as I can make it. I hope it's good enough._

 _Then he spoke._ _ **"Trace…On!"**_

 _Lightning sprung from his hands as slowly the blade appeared. It was along broad bladed weapon colored silver that looked to be razor sharp, with a matching colored hilt and pommel consisting of two snarling wolf-heads on either side with rubies for eyes, the grip wrapped in simple brown leather, and the pommel was a simple scent-stopper pommel._

 _Jaune watched as Emiya took one swift step to the side while swinging his blade and as he'd hoped, he cut the Beast along its flank, causing it to turn and snarl at him, bearing its teeth threateningly. But now that he knew that he stood not even a hundredth of a chance, Emiya charged in ready and willing to bet his own life for the good of others. He took hits from both fang and claw, but now he gave as good as he got, and for every wound Primate Murder inflicted it received one in turn._

 _By the time the two broke apart, they both looked like walking corpses. Emiya had several slash and puncture wounds all along his chest, arms and legs, and he stood on shaky unsteady legs. Primate Murder was limping on its back leg, its right eye gouged out, and had several of its teeth were either chipped or outright missing entirely, its muzzle was a torn up bloody mess._

 _Both knew this next charge would be their last. So, they waited, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Emiya intentionally let his guard down, hoping Primate Murder would take the bait. He was not disappointed. The beast lunged at him bearing claw and fangs. Yet the moment he lunged, Emiya raised his blade, allowing Primate Murder to impale himself upon it, even as a pair of claws impaled him fatally in the stomach._

 _Gaia's Beast laid on top of him as Unlimited Blade Works collapsed around him. He felt someone push the beast off him and looked into the concerned eyes of Aoko Aozaki, the red haired Fifth Magician. She looked exhausted like she could hardly move. She was begging Shirou to stay with her, to hold on as she took one of his hands._

 _Yumi appeared on his other side and did the same. Asking him to hold on, to not die. "Sorry you two. I-I think this is it for me. Tell Rin and Shujinkō sorry on my behalf, ne?"_

 ** _"Damn it Emiya, dying and leaving your wife and a kid behind? Not cool man. But, I can't deny it. You went out like a real hero. Following your path of Justice to the end. I may not like you, but damn it all if I don't have to respect you after all I've seen you struggle through. Don't worry man, I'll carry the torch, the dream isn't dead. But you won't hold it against me if I do things my way right?"_**

 _The two tried telling him something, something important by the looks of it with the tears they had in their eyes, but it was pointless. Shirou Emiya's eyes were closing, his hearing having long since left him._

 _As he died, Jaune felt himself beginning to awaken, leaving him to wonder one very important thing._

 ** _'In the end, Archer, Emiya, and myself, we're all Swords. Our purpose forged by our own actions. Archer became a Sword that kills everyone. Emiya became a Sword that swung ceaselessly for the protection of everyone at the cost of those closest to him. So, that begs the question, what kind of Sword am I?'_**

* * *

A figure sat in shadow in a well-furnished office a wine glass sitting by its side filling the room with an iron tang. Crimson eyes peered out from the shadows at the two masked subordinates before him.

"Let me see if I've got this straight. An eight-year-old boy, your brother Hydra, destroyed a Monstrous Beast Class Avian Grimm with nothing more than a black bow, and an arrow?"

"Yes sir." Hydra replied.

"What color was the arrow?"

"The color, sir?" Hydra asked.

The figure nodded, "Yes the color, and did the arrow happen to break the sound barrier once loosened?"

Hydra shook her head at the suddenness of the questions. "It was a bolt of red light if I recall correctly, and we did hear a loud crack but we don't know if it was from an arrow breaking the sound barrier."

He hummed to himself for a moment before he flicked his crimson gaze over to his older subordinate and said, "I see, Nevermore."

"Sir?" Nevermore inquired, slightly startled by the sudden address even if she didn't show it.

"I would like you to bring this boy to me. I have questions I believe only he can answer."

Both Huntresses were taken aback by this. Hydra was the first to protest, "Sir, you can't!"

" _Can't_ -"He said, a warning in his tone, "What makes you say that Hydra?"

"We're not supposed to involve our families'."

The crimson eyes bobbed up and down nodding in agreement, "Yes, you're not. That doesn't mean I can't."

"But-but." Hydra was cut off by her superior who spoke sharply, "Enough Hydra, I believe he may well be the very person we have been looking for. As such, he will be brought here to see if he can be of any use."

"And if he isn't?" She asked hesitantly.

The figure chuckled, "I highly doubt that will happen, but should I prove wrong, then I will simply erase his memories and send him on his way with Nevermore, none the wiser."

He turned his gaze back to Nevermore, "Raven, you have your orders, now fly."

Putting a fist to her chest she said, **"Ut Quod Illustratum."**

 **"Ut Quod Illustratum."**

Raven swung her blade, causing a red portal to appear, and nodded to both Hydra and her superior before stepping through. Once she was gone, Hydra turned back to him and said, "Let it go on record that I am against this with extreme prejudice, **_sir_**."

"Noted, now get out of my office and hit the showers Hydra, you're going to want to look half decent for when your brother arrives."

Hydra spun on her heel and marched out of the office slamming the door on her way out. Once she was gone, he sighed while chuckling to himself, "That girl is such a handful."

From the corner of the room, a balding if kindly man in priest robes appeared. His hands clasped behind his back, pince-nez glasses on his nose, a perpetual smile on his face as he asked, "Do you really think it's him?"

The figure smirked giddily his teeth glinting in the darkness, as he replied, "I certainly hope so."

He turned his gaze to a Chinese chess board, upon which both the black and white pieces had already begun to move. "As two factions are already amassing their forces, to the detriment of this world should either side succeed."

* * *

 **Words: 13,607 Pages: 25 Date Completed: 11/2/16**

* * *

 **AN: What's up everyone? Welcome to chapter three of Iron Body, Glass Heart. Now before we proceed, with the concept corner I'd like to address a few things as couple of people seem to be confused about some things.**

 **Firstly: Jaune acting OOC.** Of course he's acting that way he's Shirou's reincarnation. You should've expected that the moment you clicked on this fic.

 **Secondly: Reincarnation itself.** Some seem to think that there is only one kind reincarnation. The kind in which the same soul is put into numerous bodies over and over again while retaining their past experiences. That is just ONE kind of reincarnation, specific to Buddhism. I went with the second kind of reincarnation more common in Hinduism were one reincarnates but their 'core as a human being' remains the same. In other words Jaune is still Jaune, but he's got Shirou mixed in too. He's his own person separate from that which was Shirou Emiya but at the core, the same.

 **Thirdly: Making Jaune a Faunus.** Some people don't like it. Well I had a good reason for doing it. Several actually, but the main one came from me asking myself a simple question. One I'd like you all to ask yourselves. How the hell does Archer or Shirou for that matter, see in the dark? No seriously, think about it for a minute. He can see further with Reinforcement, yes but how does that translate him being able to shoot things from two and a half miles away, in dark, when said thing he's shooting at is moving as fast as a Servant? I couldn't come up with a good answer so I made one. Simple as that.

 **Now to the Concept Corner:**

 **I have a lot of things I want to talk about today so let's get down to it.**

First up I'm tweaking the amount of aura Jaune needs to spend to Trace NP's. An **A-rank NP** for example, would cost him **fifty-five (55)** aura just to trace, **one-hundred five (105)** aura to use its ability, and it would cost a whopping **two-hundred five (205)** aura to Break said Phantasm as he need to push more aura into it than it can handle.

 **Now that said, here's some new info for all of you to ponder about:**

 **Aura Growth:** Upon first year of unlocking ( **Usually at age 13, upon entering Combat School, as body is entering puberty and can easily handle aura increase**.) Aura doubles within the first year of activation, then receives diminishing returns every subsequent year until age eighteen. EX: ( **Aura year one:** 100% increase to base Aura level, **Aura year two:** +50% increase to base Aura level , **Aura year three:** 25% increase to base Aura level, **Aura year four:** 12.5% increase to base Aura level, **Aura year five:** 6.25% increase to base Aura level. For a **total of a 193.75%** increase over a span of five years).

 **Aura Density and Aura Regeneration:** The level of one's aura defense, and the rate at which one's Aura regenerates per minute after an hour of disuse. One's Aura Density is controversially proportionate to their Aura Regeneration Rate. The Density of one's aura effects how quickly it regenerates.

 **Density/Regeneration:**

 **E-/A+:** Aura regenerates at 10x normal speed. 300 Aura per minute 18,000 aura per hour. Aura can take 4 hits before being totally depleted. 25.6% of aura is lost on hit. Aura can only defend against melee attacks. Examples: (Weiss)

 **E/A:** Aura regenerates at 5x normal speed. 150 aura per minute, 9,000 aura per hour. Aura can take 8 hits before being totally depleted. 12.8% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura can only protect against pistols and melee attacks. Examples: (Ruby)

 **D/B:** Aura Regenerates a 2x normal speed. 60 aura per minute, 3600 aura per hour. Aura can take 16 hits before being totally depleted. 6.4% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura defends against small caliber arms, but cannot defend against large cartridge rounds (30-06 to .50cal) or explosives. Examples: (Jaune)

 **C/C:** Aura regenerates a normal speed. 30 aura per minute, 1800 aura per hour. Aura can take 32 hits before being totally depleted. 3.2% of aura is lost per hit taken. Aura defends against all forms of gunfire, but not damage on the level of explosives. Examples: (Yang)

 **B/D:** Aura regenerates 25% slower. 23 Aura per minute, 1380 Aura per hour. Aura can take 63 hits before being totally depleted. 1.6% of Aura is lost per hit taken. Aura can defend against small explosives. (Hand grenades, RPGs, D4) but larger more potent high explosives (Artillery) can still get through. Example: (Nora)

 **A/E:** Aura regenerates 50% slower. 15 Aura per minute, 900 aura per hour. Aura can take 125 hits before being totally depleted. Aura takes 0.8% damage per strike from conventional arms. Aura effectively makes one immune to modern arms carried by Hunters. It is not an exaggeration to call one with this rank a 'Hunter-Killer'. Nothing short of an Atlasian ships broadside laser cannon can pierce this defense. Example: (Lei Ren)

 **A+/E-:** Aura regenerates 100% slower. 8 aura per minute, 480 aura per hour. Aura can take 250 hits before being totally depleted. Aura takes 0.4% damage per strike. One is effectively 'untouchable' by any known modern weapon. Can withstand strike from a tactical nuke. Example: ?

 **And that just about does it this time around guys and gals. A big thanks to my beta Maestro of Madness for making this legible. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next chapter. Bubbajack out! Peace!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Iron Body Glass Heart**

 **By: Bubbajack**

 **Beta: Grammarly, Self-proofread**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own FSN or RWBY. They belong to Type-Moon and Rooster Teeth respectively.**

 **Ch.4: Reunions.**

Jaune awoke feeling ice cold and wet. He soon found out why. He was lying in a bathtub full of water and ice.

 _'_ _What am I doing laying in an ice bath?'_ He wondered as he, with shaking limbs and bluing fingertips reached for the nozzle that would spray him with hot water. He sighed in relief as water that would usually be scalding cascaded down on his half-frozen form. It took him a moment to realize he was still wearing his onesie, as it stuck to him like a second skin and he was so numbingly cold he couldn't even feel he had it on. Now that feeling was slowly coming back to his limbs, he peeled the sodden garment off and reaching for a towel, covered himself and departed to his room.

Along the way he came across Noir who looked at him in shock for a moment through sleep deprived eyes before dashing to his side, where she began peppering him with questions about his health while patting him down as if searching for something, "Jaune, how are you feeling? Do you feel lucid, are you sore anywhere, do you feel unusually hot or dizzy at all?"

"Good morning to you to Noir. To answer your questions in order. Cold and hungry, yes, no, no, and no."

Noir took a knee so as to look him in the eyes. Gold met blue for a moment and then she asked, with worry entering her usually stoic timbre, "You're sure you're ok?"

"Besides being cold and hungry, you mean? Yeah, I'm alright." Seeing she wasn't buying it, he softened his own tone and replied, "I'm fine Noir, pinky swear."

Noir smiled upon seeing the raised digit and clasped it with her own before giving it a shake. She then stood and said, "While you go get changed, I'll have Sabastian make breakfast."

"I can-"Jaune started to protest only to fall silent when Noir put a finger to his lips silencing him, and saying sternly, "No, you won't. Jaune…you could've died last night. It's a wonder you're up and moving and moving around as soon as you are. So please, for all our sakes, take it easy for a bit?"

Hearing Noir of all people concerned made Jaune worried. Noir didn't get concerned unless it was serious. She looked at the problem, analyzed it, and sought a way to fix it. Such was her nature which was exemplified by her Semblance, Thought Acceleration. She could think and solve problems and come up with inventions faster than anyone he knew. For her, every problem had a solution just waiting to be discovered within the gentle embrace of thought, logic, and numbers. Emotion rarely factored into it for her.

But that is not to say she was a machine. She cared about things, such as her family and the plight of the Faunus, she just chose to use her skills in a way that benefited the majority. To her, that meant using her considerable skills to aid the SDC, and in turn, use those resources to help him through his current predicament. So for her to be concerned, it must've been bad indeed.

"That bad huh?"

"You really shouldn't be capable of moving right now. I have no idea how you're doing it." Noir affirmed, curiosity fleck in her tone.

Shrugging, he replied, "Just lucky I guess."

The two remained silent as they arrived at his room, one in contemplation on the other's condition, the other in what was seen as he slept.

 _'_ _So Emiya went out like a boss. I guess should work on carrying the torch. I need to look into some things. That Gandr stuff, and the way Tohsaka used Dust Crystals, I feel a connection here, a similarity that I can make use of…When I get done with breakfast, I need to head to the library and do some reading.'_ He decided.

"Jaune is everything ok, you seem lost in thought," Noir noted.

Turning and looking up to stare his elder sister in the eyes he said seriously, "Noir, do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Well the Faunus faith talks about it to a point, but it hasn't been proven one way or another why do you ask?" Looking at him with her head tilted to the side in curiosity.

Rubbing the back of his head while silently praying she wouldn't think he was insane, he told her, "I think I'm someone's reincarnation."

Noir stared at him for a moment…blinked once…twice…then she bent down and placed a palm on his forehead while asking, "Are you sure you don't have a fever any longer Jaune?"

"Noir, I'm serious." Jaune deadpanned.

She looked into his eyes for a long moment, neither blinked. Finally, she nodded and stood, "What makes you think this Jaune?"

"When I was out of it, I saw his life, his struggles. I watched him claw his way to the top. Confront what he could become and deny it, refusing to give up on what he believed in. To go from nothing to someone who could fight on par with gods, then I saw him die."

As he spoke, Noir noted an equal measure of admiration and annoyance in her little brother's voice. "It sounds as though you both respect and dislike him at the same time."

Sighing, while rubbing the back of his head, Jaune replied, "Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but that's about right. I mean, I admire what he stood for, what he sought to uphold. He wanted to help people make everyone happy. I can't deny that wanting to help people, to make everyone around you happy is a good thing but-"

Noir nodded but inquired, "But?"

"He thought he could do it all by himself. He didn't really have a plan, or a team, he just went out and helped anyone he came across. While that's all well and good, it doesn't really do much for anyone in the long term does it?"

Noir silently contemplated the question for a moment, going over hundreds of different ways to answer the question in a matter of seconds. Finally, she decided on the most appropriate response. "No, it doesn't. One man alone cannot solve all the world's problems no matter how great his power. If he were to try, he would likely be misconstrued as the world's enemy, as I doubt people could view someone as so altruistic."

That earned her a snort from her younger brother, "You have no idea."

"I take it he died viewed as a villain then?" She asked as they came to a stop in front of his door.

Putting his hand on the door handle Jaune paused, looking back to say, "He didn't but remember what I said about him confronting what he could become?"

Seeing her nod, he finished, "He fought a mirror of himself. One that followed those same ideals to the end and was driven mad by them. One filled with regrets. As he fought him, he saw his past up to the point where he died. But what he didn't see is what happened to him after he died. His ideals twisted into becoming a mass murdered in order to protect those very same masses."

"Jaune…" Noir murmured placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine Noir, hang on, I'll be right back out."

As Jaune slipped into his room, the dark-haired genius allowed herself to mull over all the information she had gathered.

 _'_ _Jaune is or at least believes himself to be, the reincarnation of a hero. One who fought and died for the ideal of protecting others. Could this explain the oddness of his Semblance? Possibly. But wait he said he saw the life of both his past self, while his past self also saw the life of another version of himself. Could that have an effect on his battle prowess? Does he knowingly or unknowingly possess some form of skill? This requires both questioning and testing.'_

She was brought out of her musings when Jaune reappeared wearing the armor, cloak, and gauntlets from Rouge, Colombe, and Weiss Schnee respectively. But she noted something in the outfit had been changed.

"You changed the color somehow?"

It was just so. The orange that was prevalent throughout the armor and cloak was now a dark green. Hunter-green Noir noted, a color that got its name from commonly being worn by Hunters back before the Great War, only to fall out of favor for more colorful attire after it. Much like how children were named after colors.

"Yeah, it's something I can do with my semblance." He replied before changing the cloak and armor it back to its original colors, not wanting to disrespect the gifts he had been given by altering them without getting permission first.

Noir nodded, accepting the answer while mentally filing away that tidbit of information for later inquiry, deciding not to head down this path of questions she wondered about as her youngest sibling dressed.

As they walked to the dining room, Noir kept an eye on her brother. He may not have noticed, but she did. Everything from his gait to his posture had changed, practically overnight. He stood straight-backed, no longer slouching even a little bit, he held his head high and walked with a practiced ease that belayed that of a skilled warrior. His breaths came calmly and even, and his eyes flicked to and fro as if unconsciously searching for an unseen enemy or marking possible hiding spots or escape routes. She also noted that though he seemed calm, his muscles were half-tensed as if he was prepared to attack or defend at any moment. It was almost as if he'd aged years in a single night.

"Jaune, you said you saw the life of your past self, and he saw the life if his alternate self, up to his own death. When did both of them die exactly?"

"Ya mean like how old were they?" Seeing her nod, Jaune hummed to himself for a moment and finally said, "Both were in their mid-to-late forties."

"And when did they start this, hero thing of theirs?"

"Twenty, the both of them."

 _'_ _Fifty years' worth of battle experience? No wonder he almost seems like a whole new person. No, not a new person…a Veteran Huntsman.'_

"Young Master you're awake, and moving too? This is unprecedented."

"Sebastian, good…uh, morning?" Jaune replied awkwardly pulling himself up to the table giving the butler a kind nod.

The elderly Faunus returned the motion with a kindly smile, "It's afternoon young master, and you must be half-starved. What'll you have?" he asked knowingly.

Jaune looked shocked, "I missed two whole meals. Eggs Benedict with a stack or two of pancakes a medium porterhouse steak, a side of sausage, and hash browns, please."

"Milk tea, and a scrambled egg and sausage, bacon, and ham omelet please."

"Coming right up, young master, Lady Noir. I shall inform your parents of your miraculous recovery while I'm at it. No doubt you were so hungry you forgot to inform them yourself, yes?" He asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, to be fair, **_first_** I was freezing, **_then_** I was hungry."

"Indeed."

The two Arcs sat at the table in silence Jaune noted his sister kept sneaking glances his way every now and again. Finally tiring of this after several minutes, he sighed and asked, "What's up Noir? You've been peeking glances at me for a bit now. You got something you wanna ask?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to play chess with me while we wait for our meal to arrive actually." Noir finally said at last. Before motioning for a maid to come forth bearing her antique chess set.

Jaune blinked in surprise. Chess was more his sister's game than his, while he wasn't horrible, she was superior to him by far. The only person in the house able to put up a decent defense against her was Sabastian due to his advanced age. She knew this, and so did he. So that begged the question, why did she suddenly want to play against him.

 _'_ _Still, this feels important, and it could be fun.'_ He mused.

"Game on sis."

"Excellent. Thank you, Roberta."

Jaune did a double-take. She was in her maid uniform. Her skirt and boots were covered in dust from the road, and her dark-brown hair was slightly disheveled, and her glasses had mud on them, making it difficult to see her dark-green eyes, but there was Roberta Cloverfield, her bloodhound ears hanging down and concealing her human ones from view. A kind smile on her face.

"Roberta, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?"

"I heard you were ill young master and cut my time off short."

Jaune sighed having a feeling that might've been the case. Ever since he was young, Roberta had been particularly attached to him, keeping a constant eye on him whenever either his mother or one of his sisters was unable to do so. He didn't mind per-say, but he knew she was very protective of him. Not that it bothered him. His sisters and mother were the exact same way after all.

"You didn't need to do that Roberta, but I appreciate the thought."

"Nonsense. It is my duty to look after you young master." The maid replied kindly but firmly, as Noir set up the chess board.

The board was soon set up he was white, and Noir was black. As was tradition, White moved first. Jaune moved a single pawn one space forward, signaling the start of their game. It only took a few moves for Jaune to wonder if his sister was either getting rusty or intentionally holding back. As, for every piece he lost, he managed to take one of her's in turn, and then some on occasion. By the time their parents had arrived, Jaune was down to one Knight, his Queen, half his pawns, and a single bishop, while Noir had a Bishop, her queen, and eleven pawns remaining.

Glancing up from the board he told her, "You don't have to let me win you know? Hey Mom, Old Man."

Leona couldn't help but stare at her son in shock for a time, finally, she said the only thing that came to mind, desperate hope filling her words, "J-Jaune, you're awake?"

"Am I, or are you just dreaming about me being awake-ow, Noir, that hurt." He said, rubbing his temple where Noir had flicked him in the head.

"Now is not the time for jokes Jaune…we were all anxious about your health last night. So much so that none of us got much in the way of sleep." The scientist chastised gently, but firmly.

Cowed and feeling guilty, "Right, sorry, sorry. I'm okay mom. You're awake, really."

Leona let out a relieved sigh, "Thank goodness." She then wrapped her youngest in a hug and said, "I almost thought I lost you Jaune. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine mom, just hungry," Jaune replied, feeling slightly embarrassed at his mother's overprotective nature. After all, he was _eight_ now, not a kid anymore.

"Mom, stop it, I'm eight! I'm a man now."

This actually caused both of his parents and sister to laugh, and his mother to say, "You have a few more years before you can be considered a 'man' sweetie."

"Whatever." He groused.

"Brunch is served, young master," Sebastian said coming out balancing several plates of food on his arms.

Jaune's stomach let out a loud roar as the smell of food hit his nose. The blonde felt his mouth water at the sight of the food being placed before him. He wanted nothing more than to dig in, but he held back until his mother, father, and sister too had their own plates set before them. Once they did, however, he attacked his plate like a savage animal. Only to stop when the food was gone, his hunger satiated. Feeling a sudden awkwardness in the air, he looked up to see all the other's looking at him with bewildered yet amused expressions on their faces.

Swallowing hard, he realized he attacked his food without the use of silverware. Wiping his hands off on a napkin he said sheepishly, "Sorry, I was…hungry."

Leona reached out and ruffled her youngest' hair, "Clearly. It's to be expected, though, you've been sick. Do remember your table manners next time Jaune. We don't need to give the bigots any more reason to think of us as animalistic now do we?"

"No, and I'd hate for sis to look bad in front of her bosses." He replied, giving his elder sister a sheepish glance as she moved yet another chess piece.

Much to his surprise, this caused the scientist to chuckle and quip, "I don't think you'll need to worry about that Jaune."

"Why do you say that?" He asked before he moved his Knight and called check.

She gave him a knowing smile, before moving her Bishop and declaring, "Checkmate."

Jaune stared at the board, blinked twice, and then said, "Dang it, you got me. Not that it matters. You were blatantly holding back it I managed to push you that far to begin with."

Much to his surprise, the genius of the family shook her head 'no,' prompting him to ask, "No, whattaya mean no?"

"It's 'what do you mean no' Jaune, and I meant exactly what I said. I was not holding back against you whatsoever. If you seem to be capable of adapting in the heat of the moment to changing battle conditions now."

"Cool…so now what?"

"Now, I need you to come with me kiddo."

The group looked to the shadows of the room, where a crimson portal had opened up a few feet from which, stood Rouge's partner, Raven Branwen.

"Miss Branwen? You need me to go somewhere with you?" Jaune asked, confused by her request but not unhappy to see her again so soon.

"Yeah, our boss, your sisters' and mine, would very much like to meet you."

Cocking his head to the side, he asked, "Why?"

"That's what we would like to know." His father commented darkly coming to stand protectively behind his son's chair.

Raven took a step back. She knew well the power of Xanthus, son of Charlemagne Arc, Vale's Last King. His semblance was that of Absolute Command, the same as his father. If he spoke and gave an order, all those he was talking to were forced to obey. She knew his wife's semblance had something to do with energy manipulation, but he wasn't sure to what capacity.

Bowing respectfully, she spoke, "Your Highness, I come on behalf of my employer. Who believes your youngest may be able to assist him in some fashion."

Slowly, Xanthus nodded, "And who is your employer Miss Branwen?"

"To be honest, I don't know his name. None of us who work for him do, but he said he would recognize his codename of Crown."

Jaune's jaw dropped in shock the moment he heard that "Merrem? Merrem Solomon is here?"

"Is that his name? Merrem Solomon…hmm…doesn't seem to fit him for some reason." Raven mused to herself.

Looking down at his son, Xanthus inquired, "You know her employer son?"

"From another time…in another life, yes." Jaune responded wistfully.

Xanthus was slightly confused by the reply, for he couldn't recall his son ever meeting such a man, 'perhaps he helped him out in town one day? Could be.'

Sighing, Xanthus asked, "Jaune, do you want to go see this person?"

The sole heir to the Arc family name looked up into his father's eyes for a moment, before nodding and saying, "Yeah, if Merrem's asking for me, it must be severe."

"You trust him?"

"With my life," Jaune affirmed briefly looking back on the memories he had of Crown and the many times he and Shirou had each other's back when one was being trained as an executor under Yumi.

The patriarch of the Arc family nodded a couple of times slowly before asking one final question, "Are you sure you feel well enough to go?"

"Something wrong with the kid, he sick?" Raven asked, something akin to concern tingeing her tone.

It was Jaune's mother, who had remained quiet up until now, who spoke up, "He had a rather severe fever last night brought on by Acute Aura Poisoning."

Raven's crimson eyes widened in surprise, before softening, "You ok kid?"

In truth, Jaune was feeling a bit embarrassed from all the attention he was receiving, looking away while rubbing the back of his head, he groused, "I'm fine, really I am. Would you like me to make you some tea Miss Branwen, maybe heat up some leftovers from last night?" he offered.

She had half a mind to refuse, but using her semblance took a bit out of her, so she thought better of it, "Only if it isn't too much trouble."

"Not at all, I'll be right back," Jaune promised before getting up from his chair, stopping both Roberta and Sebastian when they attempted to get the food for his guest.

He made his way to the kitchen, and after getting out a step stool, he rifled through the kitchen cupboards till he found green tea leaves. He filled the kettle with water and set it to boil before he mosied over to the fridge and picked out some of the food he recalled her eating yesterday. He was pleased to see most of the food was that he'd helped prepare himself. As he had a plate heating in the microwave, he tossed some tea leaves into the now boiling water allowing them to seep as the food finished warming.

A trio of beeps signaled that the food was most likely warm now, so he poured out a cup of tea before adding the kettle and food onto a serving tray, and returning to his guest. Raven greeted him with a smile when she saw the small feast he was toting in for her benefit.

"Thanks, kiddo, you didn't have to do that. Why don't you sit down? You're looking a little peaky." She sounded concerned at the end.

His mother gave him a once over, "She's right, you do look a tad pale. Sit down, and let's have Sebastian fetch you a cup of tea. It might be just what you need."

The eight-years-old stubbornly shook his head, "I'm fine. I just need a minute."

Roberta who had returned with an empty cup from the kitchen, gave the stubborn youth a sharp glare, "Young Master, you are going to drink this tea, and you're not going anywhere until you don't look like a corpse warmed over, understood?"

"Yes, Roberta." He replied meekly. He knew better than to anger the maid, she could be scary when she wanted to be. On occasion, she would get this glassy look in her eyes, and she would try her hardest to suppress a shiver. On several occasions he had seen her with her sleeves rolled up in the kitchen and saw her arms crisscrossed with faint scars. Knowing that aura heals all but the most significant of injuries, not even leaving a scar, meant she must've seen serious combat at some point before becoming a maid.

His suspicions were confirmed when he decided to try Tracing her parasol one day for practice and discovered it was a makeshift shield, an over-under scattergun, and had a stiletto knife hidden in the handle. He knew her past then. She was a former member of **V** acuo **S** pecial **R** econ and **L** ogistics or **Visceral**. A unit comprised of trained hardened killers, whose job it was to make sure things in the desert continent didn't get too out of hand, by discreetly taking out foreign elements and possible rabble rousers that could stir up civil unrest in Vacuo.

Like for example, the attempt of Vacuo's government to crack down on the lawlessness that plagued their Kingdom. Within a week of all the new sanctions being announced, the Council members were eliminated one by one. Some were shot, others stabbed, one was lit on fire, but the message was clear. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong.

Roberta's past was one of bloodshed and struggle. But he knew full well she was the strongest person in the house bar maybe his Old Man. The things she's done horrified him but also made him appreciate her so much more. For despite her bloody past she was one of the kindest people he knew. It was at his insistence that she was given a vacation.

Once Jaune finished his cup, he turned to Raven and said, "I'll come with you to see Merrem, but on one condition."

The charcoal haired huntress narrowed her crimson eyes, furrowing her brow before she asked, "Which is?"

"Roberta comes with me," Jaune replied, serious.

The maid herself was quite surprised by his demand, "Me, Young Master? But I'm just a servant."

Turning to her with a smile on his face and sadness in his blue eyes, Jaune replied, "We both know that's not true Roberta."

Cloverfield stiffened for just a moment before asking, "How did you find out?"

To which Jaune tapped the side of his head, pointing towards his eyes. "These eyes tell me everything."

Roberta lowered her head in shame, before speaking quietly, "I see."

"Roberta!" The maid looked up sharply when the young boy called her name. Holding her gaze steadily in his own, he spoke, "I don't hold anything you did against you. Up until recently, I only knew Roberta Cloverfield as my friend and maid. But right now, I don't need Roberta, the maid."

Jaune paused to catch his breath, his cerulean blue eyes never leaving her dark green ones, "Right now, I need Rosa Cancha del trébol, the Bloodhound of the Desert."

Roberta shivered as she heard her real name spoken for the first time in almost a decade. She took a shuddering breath, before giving him a smile. Yet her eyes were darker than the void of space, and her tone clipped and cold as she replied, "If that is what you require, Young Master."

"Roberta?"

"Yes?" She replied her voice soothing and chipper once more, the light of humanity returning to her gaze.

Giving her a warm smile, he replied, "Go get your things."

"I'll be back in just a moment. Please, excuse me." She left with a bow, her tone once again frigid and eyes hard.

After she had left, Raven commented, "I've see a lot of shit, but someone who can go from kind and caring to cold-hearted killer in the blink of an eye? That's new."

"Roberta or Rosa, if you prefer, has had a difficult life." Xanthus began, his voice solemn "She was forced to fight and kill from a young age. When she came to me, she was only a couple years older than Jaune is now, asking for asylum. We offered to adopt her, but she was more than content taking up the position of a maid in our household."

Sebastian let out a rueful chuckle, "Yes teaching her how to be a maid was hell. I can't rightly recall how many plates she broke in the first year."

"Remember the time she set the kitchen on fire making breakfast?"

Sebastian nodded, "Yes, it gave us an excellent excuse to redecorate."

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused the two reminiscing men to turn to the entrance where Roberta stood holding a black silken-steel mesh parasol in one hand and a black handbag in the other. She was giving both of them the evil eye even as she blushed in embarrassment. Both master and servant looked away abashed as the former child-soldier approached her young charge.

"Got everything you need Roberta?"

She was silent for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I think I've prepared for every possible situation."

Jaune stood popping his back before saying, "Then let's go. Miss Raven, if you would?"

"Sure kid." Raven drew her crimson blade and slashed the air, causing a red portal to open.

"Ladies first," Jaune said with a bow.

* * *

The trio found themselves in a darkened office, but due to his heritage, Jaune could see just fine. A polished oak wood desk sat on the other side of the room, bookshelves lined with tomes covered the wall behind it, and he could tell he was standing on a rather intricate looking rug depicting a mandala on its surface in golden thread. An overstuffed swivel chair sat in front of the desk, currently facing away from the trio.

Taking a couple of steps forwards, Raven saluted, via slamming a clenched fist against her chest, " **Ut Quod Illustratum.** Mission complete sir. I brought the boy…"

"But?" The voice that echoed out from the shadows, sounding curious, kind, and slightly malevolent all at once.

"I was forced to reveal your presence to some of his family members, and he refused to come with me unless he was allowed to bring his maid with him, sir."

A few moments passed, and then a chuckle rang out of the black, "Ah, I see you're still quite stubborn. Always wanting to do things your own way. You haven't changed much have you, Shirou?"

The figure turned around in his chair, revealing his face. His skin was pale white, his face aristocratic with high cheekbones, a narrow jawline, and a thin nose. His hair was long and dark and hung like a veil of black silk from his head, while his eyes shown as two perfectly carved sapphires in his face, his lips curved in a caring yet somehow cruel smirk. He was clad in a simple blue silken kimono with white snowflakes.

Jaune stared at him for a moment before pointing at him and bursting out laughing, "Oh god! Solomon, what happened to you man?! You're a bishōjo now! AHHAHAHHAHAHA!"

"I'm a boy you jackass…and its Kaie Karyou nowadays." he sulked.

Jaune doubled over in laughter, "That's even worse, you're a Bishōnen!"

"Oh yeah, what about you?! Blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing orange and black, got any kunai hidden anywhere maybe feel the urge to yell the name of your emo best friend?"

Jaune looked down at his attire then face palmed, "Damn it! I didn't realize."

"What, no believe it, no exclaiming about how you're going to become Hokage?"

Jaune flipped the vampire the bird, "Go Fuck yourself with a cross, Crown."

"I don't swing that way Tsurugi. It's nice to know you feel comfortable enough to be open about your sexuality, though."

"That's funny coming from a guy whose left leg is a windup sex doll." Jaune shot back.

The two silently glared each other down for a moment, and tension filled the air. For a moment, Raven thought the two were going to come to blows, only for them both to burst out into raucous laughter before they each moved forward and greeted each other like old friends, with Crown having to take a knee so the two could share a manly hug.

"Hey, Tsurugi?"

"Yes, Crown?"

"Would you hold it against me if I picked you up and started singing Circle of Life?"

To which Jaune deadpanned, "Let me go, you pedo-priest."

"So that's a no then?" Kaie asked for confirmation.

Pulling back, Jaune said flatly, "Do it, and you're going to be missing your prick afterward."

"So mean, threatening my manhood like that." He sulked before letting go.

Fixing his clothes, Jaune replied, "Who said I was talking about your junk?"

It took a moment, but the vampire's eyes widened in surprise before turning deep crimson, and he covered his mouth protecting his precious fangs therein. "You wouldn't."

Jaune smiled in faux-innocence, "Of course I wouldn't buddy, just like you wouldn't pick me up and try and reenact the opening of the Lion King right?"

Clearing his throat, the vampire, abruptly stood saying, "No, no of course not."

"So uh, what exactly did you need me for? I hope it's not for a fight because I'm not really up to scratch at the moment."

"Oh no, no, nothing like that," Kaie promised while leading the way out of his office.

People shuffled to and fro each wearing an overly large Grimm mask. When they saw Kaie, they stopped and saluted before going back to their business. As they walked down the halls, Kaie spoke, "I'm sure you're wondering what we do here?"

"t **a** crossed my mind."

"We are the Artificers. We catalog, maintain, and safeguard humanity by remembering their history, their accomplishments, their mistakes, their wars, and we make sure they don't make the same ones."

"So, you've established the Executors two-point-oh in other words."

Shaking his head, Kaie replied, "You don't understand. All these myths, fairytales, and legends that float around Remnant? They are not just stories. Each one holds a grain of truth. Truths humanity has forgotten due to their constant warring and destruction. It is the job of my organization to hunt down the truth amidst the legends. To find the facts and if necessary, suppress long lost knowledge for the continued survival of humanity."

"In other words, the Executors two-point-oh, minus the religious fanaticism."

Sighing, Kaie replied, "It appears I will have to show you, come."

He led them to an elevator. Clamoring inside, Kaie hit a button, and the elevator began a slow descent, the sound of metal grinding against metal was audible from the start. Turning to the person next to him, who happened to be Roberta, Kaie smiled kindly and said, "Well hello there, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. Moryou Kaie and you are?"

"Roberta Cloverfield."

The kind smile never left his face as he inquired, "And how do you know my old friend, Miss Cloverfield?"

The hardened killer found herself stuttering slightly, "I-I'm his maid like Miss Branwen said."

"Ah, is that what she said? I kind of tuned her out after she had said she arrived with Shirou." This response earned an aggravated sigh from the older woman who was standing directly behind her boss and a laugh from Jaune.

"And you, how do you know Jaune, and why do you keep referring to him as Shirou?" Roberta inquired her eyes narrowed in slight hostile inquiry.

On hearing this, Kaie turned to Jaune and said, "You didn't tell her?"

"I haven't told most of them. I'm giving them time to adjust. Hell, I'm still trying to adjust." The blonde replied while rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

The vampire ruffled his hair good-naturedly, "Give it time, it'll get easier."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Jaune admitted, "At what point does Jaune Arc begin, and Shirou Emiya end?"

"Don't think of it like that, think of it as a circle, it has no beginning, no end it just is." The elder boy said sagely.

Shrugging the eight-year-old replied, "Can't be any worse than trying to deny his existence I suppose."

"Excuse me, but would one of you mind explaining what's going on?" Roberta asked, her voice tinged with annoyance.

Kaie shared a look with Jaune, one that asked, _'Do you want to tell her or should I?'_

To which, Jaune silently nodded his assent to the older boy.

Kaie turned to the killer maid and said, "I call him Shirou because that's what his name was in his past life. His previous incarnation was that of one Emiya Shirou one very stubborn boy who really wanted to be a hero."

Turning to her young charge, Roberta asked, "Young Master, is what this man says true?"

"Yep."

It was a simple admission, but it raised so many questions in the maid. She opened her mouth prepared to ask one of the many inquiries on the tip of her tongue when the elevator finally came to a stop. Once the doors clattered open, all of them couldn't help but stare in awe.

For before them was a massive titan of metal. Easily one-hundred feet tall seemingly made of solid bronze, with a left hand made of pure silver. It had a face carved of a bearded man and massive arms carrying a bearded axe that looked to also be a giant cannon. Sigils all across its form seemed to glow a luminous blue, from its eyes to the gaps in-between its beard, to runes carved into its chest.

After a moment, Jaune asked, "Ok, I'll bite, what's with the Numidium?"

"That is Tyr, one of the Deus Machina."

Sighing, Jaune said, "God Machine? A giant mecha, seriously?"

"A giant mecha powered by human souls." Kaie corrected.

Doing his best suppress a groan, Jaune said, "Let me guess, ancient cultures that practiced human sacrifice used them to power those things?"

"Got it in one." Kaie said walking over to a monitor that appeared to be showing a time-lapse of Remnant. As the group watched it showed one giant landmass, and five random symbols, a Wand, an Axe, Twin Daggers, A Sword, and a Shield. Then it was shattered and vast tracts of land sunk into the sea, leaving behind the continents as they were known today. Two symbols, the Axe and Twin Daggers, ended up in what would become the continent of Sanus housing both Vacuo and Vale. While the Wand ended up in frozen Atlas, and the Shield in Minstrel.

The Sword alone ended up on the uninhabited Dragon continent.

"What are we looking at here Kaie?" Jaune asked as the visual began to loop.

"What you're looking at is the power of these weapons. At in time from what we can piece together, the world was one continent, then as often do, greed and a lust for power took hold, giving rise to God Machines. The five great nations at the time warred and tore the supercontinent apart. Atlas became a tundra, Vacuo once a verdant forest by all accounts became a desert with few oasis' surviving, and Minstrel became a swampland."

"So, what do you need me for exactly?" Jaune asked.

In response, the Vampire led his old friend over to a trio of half broken pillars, which had various researchers surrounding them. Each was covered in cuneiform. The moment he saw them, he knew exactly what he wanted. Turning to him, he stated flatly, "I'll trace the pillar on two conditions."

"Conditions, the old you would've done it just to be helpful…your maturing, I'm proud of you."

"Firstly," Jaune began pretending he didn't hear the vampire, "I need access to any information on bounded fields you may have, I'd like to peruse through your weapon cache."

His eyes twinkling with mirth, Kaie retorted, "Oh deciding to actually try hard at being a magus this time around are we?"

Shrugging, Jaune replied, "Eh, I've got time before I join someplace like Beacon or whatever unlike last time around, so why not?"

Nodding sagely the vampire inquired, "And the second condition?"

"If this happens to lead us to a certain Golden Jackass, and I somehow end up having to fight him and survive…I. Am going. To kick. Your ass…"

"I see."

Jaune shook his head, "No you don't. It was annoying enough dealing with that egotistical jackass the first time around. So if I have to deal with that blonde-haired prick again, because of your meddling, I am going to kick your ass so hard, your next incarnation will still be feeling the phantom pains, caprice?"

The two stared each other down for a moment before the vampire finally nodded, "Understood."

"Good, now stand back and hand me something to write with, this is gonna be a pain in the ass."

Accepting a pen and paper from one of the researchers, Jaune laid a hand on one of the obelisks and prepared to write with the other. **_"Trace on!"_**

It was old, older than Kaie even but the intentions of the writer still sung out just as powerfully as when he first thought to carve them down in the first place. So Jaune began to write, and by the time he'd finished, he had a translation that was roughly a paragraph or so long. It read:

 _"_ _The King of All, waits, sleeping beneath desert sands._

 _To those who would seek to rob the Kings treasury, follow the setting sun._

 _But beware. For the sentinel of mud ever stands guard, over his sleeping friend._

 _When the key meets the lock, the King shall rise again, and reclaim the greatest treasure."_

Looking down at the paper, Jaune felt the urge to curse under his breath. Instead, he said, "Well, that's ominous."

Showing the writing to Kaie, Jaune asked, "Your thoughts? Because I think it's Gilgamesh."

Quickly reading over the note, the vampire reluctantly agreed with his friend's assessment, "This is as I feared."

Sighing Jaune ground out, "Why did I have a feeling you knew about this already?"

"I didn't know, I just suspected." Kaie defended.

"Suspected what?"

The duo looked over to see Rouge approaching her gaze fixed on her superior, and if she could kill him with her glare, he would likely already be dead.

Pointing at Kaie with his thumb, Jaune proceeded to throw his friend under the proverbial bus, "This guy tricked me into coming here. He expects me to fight a golden-haired demi-god who can fire mythical melee weapons like arrows."

"I do not." Kaie retorted.

"Oh so you think you can beat the King of Heroes all by yourself?" the blonde challenged.

"…Ok, so maybe I had ulterior motives, but it's for a goo-" He was silenced by Rouge's glare alone.

She then turned a sweet loving smile on her little brother and said, "Hey Jaune, can I talk to you over here for a sec?"

Seeing no harm in it, he followed her over to a corner, but not before saying, "I'll be right back, take five people."

"Will do kid. Take your time." Raven said not unkindly.

Once the two were tucked away, Rouge sighed and asked, "What did you do to make Raven like you so quickly? Do you know it took me over a year to get her to stop speaking to me in grunts?"

Shrugging, Jaune replied, "I don't know, I thought she was always that nice."

The eldest Arc child shook her head, "No, she usually has this holier than thou attitude because she thinks she's the strongest one around…then again, I don't think even **_she's_** ever one-shot a Nyctimene."

Jaune cleared his throat, cutting his sister off and saying, "Uh, Rogue, I hate to interrupt, but you didn't bring me over here to complain about my relationship with Miss Branwen did you?"

Rouge sighed, "No, no I did not. Jaune, I know you just want to help, but I don't want you involved in this, not any more than you already are."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, "Sis, I know you want to keep me safe, but this may be something only I can do."

"Due to your hax semblance?" she guessed.

"Most likely." He affirmed.

Biting back a curse, the Artificer rubbed her temples and said, "I can't just convince you to drop this?"

Giving her a sad smile he replied, "Afraid not. It's true what they say you know? Once one knows something, they can't unknow it. That and he who increaseth Knowledge-"

"Increaseth Sorrow." She finished the quote. "I wanted to spare you from all this, I wanted you to just be a regular Huntsman fighting average Grimm. Not fighting monsters out of myth and hunting down super weapons of mass destruction. But if your dead set on this…"

She then leaned down and pressed her lips to his brow, keeping them there just a tad too long in his opinion, but he chose not to comment on that. "That's for luck, and to remind you that you need to stay safe, for all our sakes. Now, I think it's time you go on back home, don't you? Besides, I need to have a _'chat'_ with my employer."

Returning her smile with one of his own, Jaune replied, "I would like to sis, but he promised me some books if I helped translate those pillars, and I haven't gotten them yet."

Walking up to the vampire and giving him a pointed look, she said, "Books, then home. No buts."

Kaie sighed and motioned for an Artificer wearing a vulture-themed mask, and he presented the boy with a small black USB drive. "Everything you could ever want to know about that particular subject can be found there."

"Thanks, Kaie, I appreciate it," Turning to Raven he commanded, "Home Jeeves."

Giving him a slight glare Raven retorted, "Keep it up kid, and we'll see how long it takes you to swim back home when I drop you in the middle of the Lunus Ocean."

Jaune was silent for the rest of the trip back. Partly out of worry of provoking his 'ride' but mostly out of his eagerness to begin digging through the information on the USB Drive.

* * *

 **Chapter Length: 7,579 words Number of Pages: 16 Date Completed: 2/23/17**

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 **AN: This chapter was brought to you today by the Hemmingway method of writing! That and Rock 'n' Roll. I am for the most part happy with this chapter. The only part I'm slightly dissatisfied with is the revelation of Roberta's backstory. But I just couldn't think of another way to do it without rewriting hundreds of words.**

 **So that aside, I'm happy with how this chapter turned out and I hope you all are too. In particular I liked writing the Kaie and Jaune interaction. They act like best friends who don't hesitate to mock and threaten each other. They act like brothers basically. Expect a lot of that whenever they're around each other. I don't really have much to say, so I'll end it here with I hope you all enjoyed and till next time, Bubbajack out! Peace!**


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